IPL 2026 set for rare all-Indian captaincy record after Ishan Kishan replaces Pat Cummins
Published - 19 Mar 2026, 10:43 AM | Updated - 19 Mar 2026, 10:47 AM
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The upcoming season of the Indian Premier League is going to be historic. As soon as Sunrisers Hyderabad announced their Indian stand-in captain's name, to replace an injured Pat Cummins, it was recorded in the record book.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) named Ishan Kishan as their stand-in captain in the absence of their regular captain Pat Cummins. Cummins will miss the first few games of the IPL 2026 because of a lower back Injury. In his absence, Ishan will lead the team.
All Indian captain to lead in an IPL campaign after 7 long years
For the IPL 2026 season, SRH was the only team that had an overseas skipper in the form of Pat Cummins. Rajasthan Royals appointed Riyan Parag as their leader after the departure of Sanju Samson. The rest of the teams remained fixed with their previous season captains, respectively.
On Wednesday, the franchise announced Ishan Kishan as their stand-in skipper and Abhishek Sharma as their vice-captain. With Ishan Kishan as the captain, it will be the first time in seven years that the Indian Premier League will have skippers. Cummins is reportedly set to miss the initial few matches of the tournament because of a lower back Injury, for which he missed the T20 World Cup 2026 as well.
The Aussie pacebstar has a history of back injuries. But the nature of the injury remains unclear. Another Australian pacer, Josh Hazlewood, who also missed the T20 World Cup 2026 because of a hamstring injury, can miss a few IPL 2026 matches for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
In the 2019 season, Kane Williamson was originally named as the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain. Later, they had to choose Bhuvneshwar Kumar in place of Kane Williamson. As soon as Kumar was named the leader of the side, the 2019 IPL season became an all Indian skipper tournament.
As a captain, Ishan Kishan helped Jharkhand to win their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy in 2025
Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan was named the stand-in captain after the 2026 T20 World Cup triumph. The Southpaw, who batted as an opener and as number three batter in the latter part of the tournament, amassed 317 runs at a strike rate of 193.
Before that, in 2025, he helped the Jharkhand cricket team to win their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. As the captain of the team, Ishan claimed 517 runs in only 10 matches at a staggering strike-rate of 197
Full list of captains in IPL 2019 and IPL 2026:
IPL 2026 Captains: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Chennai Super Kings), Axar Patel (Delhi Capitals), Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans), Ajinkya Rahane (Kolkata Knight Riders), Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians), Rajat Patidar (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings), Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals), Rishabh Pant (Lucknow Super Giants), Ishan Kishan (Sunrisers Hyderabad).
IPL 2019 Captains: Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Ajinkya Rahane (Rajasthan Royals), Ravichandran Ashwin (Kings XI Punjab), MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings), Dinesh Karthik (Kolkata Knight Riders), Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians), Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals).
Read More: 'Retired' Virat Kohli can face difficulties, former India cricketer explains ahead of IPL 2026
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