New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has lauded the captaincy skills of Ishan Kishan and advised the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) franchise to continue with the wicketkeeper batter as captain despite the return of Australian spearhead Pat Cummins.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) registered their third consecutive victory of the IPL 2026, overpowering Delhi Capitals (DC) by 47 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

Riding on a breathtaking, career-best century from Abhishek Sharma, the hosts posted 242 for 2. In response, a disciplined Sunrisers bowling attack, spearheaded by Eshan Malinga, restricted the DC to 195 for 9, securing a dominant win to go third in the standings.

According to Harbhajan, the players have built a great coordination with Kishan, and if the franchise continues their support to the young leader that, then it will benefit the team as a whole.

“Ishan Kishan should continue as Sunrisers Hyderabad captain even if Pat Cummins returns. It is a debatable call, but if the team has backed a young leader, they should stick with him. Cummins helped Hyderabad reach the final in 2024, no doubt. But the side is doing well under Kishan’s leadership. The bowlers and other players have built good coordination with him. Keeping Ishan as captain will benefit Sunrisers Hyderabad,” Harbhajan told Jio Hotstar.

Kishan was appointed the stand in captain of SRH ahead of the tournament, as their designated leader, Cummins, was expected to miss the starting matches due to a back injury. But the Australian all-rounder has been declared fit and is likely to feature in the team’s next match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 25.

Under Kishan’s leadership, SRH had a poor start with a loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The team bounced back with 65 run win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) but suffered back to back defeats against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their next two matches.

With just one win in four matches, SRH made a strong comeback and registered a hat-trick of wins against Rajasthan Royals (RR), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and Delhi Capitals (DC) to grab the third spot in the points table with three wins in seven matches. SRH also has a positive net run rate of +0.820.

–IANS

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