IPL 2026: Kishan’s leadership has positive effect on his batting, says coach Vettori

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Daniel Vettori, on Wednesday, heaped praise on Ishan Kishan for doing the captain’s job well in the absence of regular skipper Pat Cummins, who is yet to attain full fitness.

Vettori underlined Ishan led by example with a 38-ball 80 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). “We’re fortunate enough that Cummins has been around the group, and he has been able to have conversations with Ishan about his style and how he wants to go about it. And Ishan’s been highly successful in his captaincy career so far,” said Vettori ahead of SRH’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens here.

“Ishan loves leadership and it can have a real positive effect on his batting and keeping. As he gets to understand the group and the dynamics, he’s going to put his mark on it, and he will be a very effective leader for us.”

Vettori also complimented Ishan’s batsmanship against all sorts of bowlers. “His ability to hit both sides of the pitch, hit behind, 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…When he walks out to the crease, he has got the confidence and an understanding of his game that he can take it on.”

Having lost to RCB even after scoring a 200-plus total, Vettori said their bowlers needed to be as perfect as possible against KKR.

Published on Apr 01, 2026