IPL 2026: In a rare moment of intensity between the players, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)’s 26-year-old spinner Zeeshan Ansari, was spotted giving a ‘fiery’ send-off to stand-in captain Ishan Kishan during an inter-squad practice match on Saturday (March 21). Zeeshan, who had an impressive debut for SRH in the previous year’s edition, is likely to be an integral member of the bowling attack in the upcoming edition.
Ishan, who was taking Zeeshan to cleaners during the practice game, got outfoxed by the leg-spinner after hitting him for two maximums and two boundaries in the initial four deliveries of the over. On the fifth ball of the over, Ishan hit the ball straight into the hands of the fielder as Zeeshan had the last laugh.
Ishan finished his knock at 52 (20) before falling to the wily leg-spinner from Uttar Pradesh, who pointed towards the dressing room while looking at him. Kishan took it all in good jest as he laughed it off.
Notably, Zeeshan and Ishan have been teammates at the U19 level, representing India.
Watch the video here:
Send off to Ishan Kishan 🤯
During the intra squad match today, Zeeshan Ansari, a bowler for Sunrisers Hyderabad, was seen giving a send off to his own captain Ishan Kishan after dismissing him.
The team atmosphere doesn’t seem to be very good.
— Stubbsy (@spideypant_) March 21, 2026
The spinner took six wickets across ten games last year. His recent performance has been outstanding, taking an impressive 21 wickets over his last eight competitive games.
Ishan Named Captain In Cummins’ Absence
SRH announced that the wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan will captain the side in Pat Cummins’ absence, and left-handed batter Abhishek Sharma will be his deputy.
“Pat Cummins will miss a few games while recovering from injury. Until he recovers, Ishan Kishan will be the Captain and Abhishek Sharma will be the Vice-Captain,” SRH announced in the X post.
SRH signed Ishan Kishan before the IPL 2025 season for Rs 14.5 crore and made an immediate impact, smashing a 45-ball century against Rajasthan Royals on debut. However, he ended the season with 354 runs from 13 innings at an average of 35.40.
SRH squad for IPL 2026 season:
Salil Arora, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Ravichandran Smaran, Aniket Verma, Abhishek Sharma, Brydon Carse, Harsh Dubey, Jack Edwards, Liam Livingstone, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins, Amit Kumar, Krains Fuletra, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga, Harshal Patel, Sakib Hussain, Shivang Kumar, Onkar Tarmale, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari.
