Ishan Kishan etched his name into the record books on Saturday as he led Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL 2026 opener, achieving a rare milestone in Indian cricket.
At 27 years and 253 days, Kishan became only the third Indian cricketer to have captained both the India U-19 team and an IPL franchise. The landmark moment came during SRH’s clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Second-Youngest Captain in SRH History
With this appearance, Kishan also became the second-youngest captain in SRH’s history. The record for the youngest skipper still belongs to Kane Williamson, who led the franchise in 2018 at 27 years and 244 days.
Kishan stepped in as stand-in captain and expressed confidence in his team despite losing the toss. “Looks like a fresh wicket. It doesn’t matter whether you bat or bowl first. We just need to execute our plans. Everyone looks in good touch,” he said.
RCB Opt To Bowl, Eye Another Title
After winning the toss, RCB captain Rajat Patidar chose to field first and made it clear that the defending champions are aiming to repeat their success.
“We’re not thinking about defending the title; we want to become champions again in 2026,” Patidar said, highlighting the team’s depth and strong squad balance. He also confirmed debuts for Jacob Duffy and Abhinandan Singh.
Playing XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c & wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma