IPL 2026: ‘He loves leadership’ - SRH coach Daniel Vettori backs captain Ishan Kishan

Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori has expressed confidence in Ishan Kishan’s leadership, stating that the added responsibility is likely to have a positive influence on both his batting and wicketkeeping. Kishan is currently leading SRH in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is expected to join the playing XI later in the tournament.

Speaking ahead of SRH’s clash against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Vettori dismissed any concerns around Cummins’ absence affecting the leadership group.

“We're fortunate enough that Pat has been around the group and he's been able to have conversations with Ishan about his captaincy style. But Ishan has been highly successful in his captaincy career so far. So whilst it can be slightly different, we don't look at [no Cummins on the field] as a negative at all [from the point of view of captaincy],” Vettori was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

The former New Zealand skipper highlighted that Kishan's enthusiasm for leadership was evident in his performance during SRH’s opening game against RCB, where he smashed a brilliant 80 off just 38 balls.

“As you saw by Ishan's performance in the first game, he loves leadership, he loves being out there and I think it can have a real positive effect on his batting and keeping. As he gets to understand the group and the dynamic, he's going to put his mark on it and I have no doubt that he will be a very effective leader for us,” he added.

Vettori also shed light on the challenges bowlers face while trying to contain the aggressive left-hander, emphasising his all-round dominance against different bowling styles.

“There’s a very slim room for error [when bowling to Kishan] and his ability to hit both sides of the wicket, hit behind the wicket and then deal with the full ball aggressively means he puts pressure back on that bowler straight away. There's no style of bowling that he's ineffective against, so you can't stifle him with spin. And pace bowling, he deals with exceptionally well,” Vettori explained.

“So straight away, when he walks out to the crease, he's got confidence and an understanding of his game that he can take it on. He is prepared to take a bowler on from ball one and that puts a lot of pressure,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, looking ahead to the upcoming clash, Vettori made it clear that SRH will not underestimate KKR’s spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, despite their underwhelming outing in the previous match.

With both teams coming off defeats despite posting 200-plus totals, the contest promises to be a high-scoring encounter where execution with the ball could prove to be the difference.