One of the biggest talking points ahead of the start of IPL 2026 is the choice of captain by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the absence of regular skipper Pat Cummins. SRH snubbed Abhishek Sharma by announcing Ishan Kishan as stand-in captain, a decision that did not go down well with some fans and even cricket experts. Now, Abhishek’s mentor and former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh says it is disappointing for any player who has given his “heart and soul” to the team over the years to miss out on the opportunity to lead the team. “It’s disappointing. I love Ishan Kishan. I’ve seen his growth in Indian cricket and I’ve seen his comeback,” Yuvraj Singh said on the SportsTak Podcast. “If I give you an example, from a player’s perspective, let’s say Abhishek Sharma comes into the team before the World Cup, his state team wins, scores a hundred in the final, gets into the World Cup team, he scores runs, he is the captain of the team.
“Ishan Kishan, on the other hand, played for a team for seven years, performed well, gave his all for the team and also captained the state team, but he didn’t get the captaincy; he got the vice-captainship. Now with what mentality he plays team cricket – it’s a bit disappointing.” However, Yuvraj Singh feels that this snub should serve as motivation for Abhishek to try to do better than what he has done so far. “If this happens to me, I have to say clearly, ‘Listen, this has happened and I’m disappointed’. I also spoke to Abhishek and told him that we’re going to put this disappointment aside and I’m going to support my captain and I’m going to try to do better because something hurt me, ab aur zor lagaunga, to do better. That should be your motivation,” Yuvraj said. Although SRH has officially communicated the reasons for choosing Kishan over Abhishek, the overall feeling is that Ishan is an ideal choice as a stopgap measure. Ishan returned to the Indian team after a gap of two years and scored 317 runs in the World Cup to lead his country Jharkhand to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – India’s premier domestic T20 tournament – including a century in the final and 517 runs in the tournament – an ideal choice for a stop-gap arrangement. Yuvraj further explained why Kishan was chosen as captain by SRH, looking back at his India career and the time in 2007 when MS Dhoni was appointed as India captain in the presence of senior players. “For example, when I was in the Indian team, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag were the seniors and I was the vice-captain, but MS Dhoni suddenly came along and became the captain. Whatever the reason… franchise cricket does not decide whether you will captain the Indian team or not.
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Do you think Ishan Kishan is ready to captain IPL?
You look at Shubman Gill; because everyone feels he is the most hard-working, the most sincere about the game, he thinks about cricket in a different way, the selectors feel this is the man who should captain India. Maybe the same thing as Dhoni being named captain. If someone is destined to be captain and do great things for India, it will happen. ” Yuvraj said. Cummins, who led SRH in 2024 and 2025, is recovering from a back injury and although he has joined the SRH squad, he is still unable to be selected. The injury has ruled him out of the 2026 T20 World Cup. However, the Australian acknowledged Ishan’s promotion, saying: “Ishan has been very successful as captain of his local side over the last year or so…”.
