Stand-in Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Ishan Kishan found himself at the centre of a fiery on-field moment during a practice game on Saturday, when teammate Zeeshan Ansari gave him an animated send-off after dismissing him.The incident unfolded in the eighth over of the second innings. Kishan, who looked in sublime touch early on, took the attack to the 26-year-old leg-spinner, smashing two sixes and two boundaries off the first four deliveries. However, Ansari had the final say. He deceived the wicketkeeper-batter with a full ball, leading to a mistimed shot that was safely caught at deep square leg.What followed was a charged reaction from the bowler, who gestured Kishan to head back to the pavilion. The SRH skipper, though, chose to take it sportingly and responded with a smile, diffusing the tension.
The moment comes at a time when Kishan has been handed leadership responsibilities for the early phase of the Indian Premier League 2026 season. The franchise named him interim captain, with Abhishek Sharma serving as his deputy, as regular skipper Pat Cummins continues his recovery from a lower back stress injury.Cummins’ injury had already ruled him out of a significant portion of the recent The Ashes in Australia and also sidelined him during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. While confirming the leadership change, SRH stated that Cummins would miss a few matches but did not clarify the exact duration of his absence.Kishan steps into the role on the back of an outstanding run in the T20 World Cup, where he played a pivotal part in India’s title-winning campaign. The left-hander finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer with 317 runs from nine matches, striking at 193 and averaging 35.22, including three half-centuries.His performances also propelled him to No.2 in the ICC rankings for T20I batters, a chart currently topped by his SRH teammate Abhishek Sharma. Earlier in the domestic season, Kishan had also led Jharkhand to their maiden title in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, further underlining his growing credentials as a leader.
