Ishan Kishan will have an added responsibility on him this Indian Premier League season. The player has been chosen as the stand-in captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, as their regular skipper Pat Cummins will miss the initial phase of the tournament due to injury. While Cummins is in the recovery phase and continues to stay on the sidelines, the focus will be firmly on Kishan and how he fares in the leadership role. Notably, Kishan has experience of leading the Jharkhand side at the domestic level. He captained the team to its maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title last year. (RCB vs SRH IPL 2026 Live Updates)
During an interaction ahead of IPL 2026, Kishan was trolled by Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill, and the southpaw came up with a terrific response.
“As a half-captain, will you do half the work or complete?” asked the host to Kishan during the chat.
Kishan replied: “No. No. Complete work.”
This is when Gill pulled the player’s leg over his height, saying: “He will do it according to his height.”
Kishan replied smartly, “Waise thodi chal raha hai. Sachin paaji ko bhi same bolega? (This is not how it is done. Will you say the same thing to Sachin Tendulkar?)”
Biggest comeback from Ishan…
Shubman: Ye adha captain hai. Height ke hisab se…
Ishan: Bro aise thode chalta hai… Sachin paaji ko same bolega…
Shubman’s entire world shaked after this…
Ek toh wo Jadeja ka “sasra” comment aur ab ye…producer ko bol ke katwana padega ye…… pic.twitter.com/Jv1weCH4GB
— DRS (@drrichaks) March 28, 2026
While Kishan is in the form of his life, Gill is going through a lean patch. The right-handed batter was ignored for the recently concluded T20 World Cup due to his poor batting performance.
Gill had a brilliant IPL season in 2025, and he will aim to replicate it. The player scored 650 runs in 15 matches at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 155.88.
Kishan too had a good IPL 2025, scoring 354 runs in 14 games at an average of 35.40 and a strike rate of 152.59.
SRH’s campaign begins on Saturday with a match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. On the other hand, Gujarat Titans play their campaign opener against Punjab Kings on March 31 in Mullanpur.