Hyderabad, March 25 (IANS) Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) stand-in captain Ishan Kishan has spoken about his leadership approach ahead of the 19th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is set to commence on March 28.

SRH will start their IPL campaign against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 28. Kishan, who made a surprise return to the Indian T20I side ahead of the T20 World Cup, will lead the team for the first time in his career in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is set to miss the opening matches of the tournament.

In a video released by the franchise, Kishan spoke about his ambition to captain the side and how he loves the leadership role and also explained his approach of keeping things simple and enjoying the game.

“I’ve always wanted to be a leader of the team, you know, and take the team forward from whatever situation. So, I’m very overwhelmed, and I’m very happy that I got this opportunity to lead this team. And to be very honest, I’m gonna just keep it simple, not to do so much because when players come to IPL, I think they’re all very good players,” he said in a video released by SRH.

“You just need to make sure that they are on the right track and their mindset doesn’t change after a few innings, going here and there. And the rest is, you know, it’s gonna be a good season, I guess, and we’ll just do it together,” the skipper added.

Kishan also revealed his captaincy mantra and said that under his leadership the team will focus on the present and look at one match at a time. “The most important thing for a cricketer is to be in a very good headspace throughout the season. You know, what matters the most is if you are calm, if you are composed and you’re just aware of the situation of what’s happening and what’s needed for the team, you’re gonna do well,” he said.

“So, mostly this season, we’ll make sure that we just stay present, we just keep it simple, and do as much hard work as we can before the match starts. But in the match, we’re just gonna enjoy the game and take one match at a time,” Kishan added.

The wicketkeeper-batter also asked for support from the fans as the team prepares to end their ten-year drought of an IPL trophy. “On behalf of my team, I would love to say thank you so much for being part of this journey. And this season is gonna be special. We’ll need your support. We’ll need your love. We’re gonna play our best cricket,” he said.

“We are going to do our best, give our best for you guys, especially because I know what kind of support we get when we play for SRH. Hopefully, we’ll do our best and try to give up a very good show. And thank you for all the support till now,” Kishan concluded.

Kishan was in great form in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2026, where he scored 532 runs in 13 matches at an average of 40.92 with a strike rate of 207.

–IANS

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