Yuvraj Singh blasts at SRH managements. Credits - AFP
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in recent years have rebranded themselves, under Pat Cummins' captaincy, by adopting the gung-ho brand of batting with the influence of Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen.
In IPL 2024, SRH attacked all the way to the final before losing to Kolkata. However, in that tournament, they smacked the highest total in the IPL history - 287/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. They went on the same attacking road in IPL 2025, hitting the second and third-highest team totals of the IPL.
The Orange Army owes a lot of its success to the Numero Uno T20I batter, Abhishek Sharma. However, when they lost the services of Pat Cummins for the initial matches, Ishan Kishan was preferred over as the stand-in captain, while Abhishek became his deputy in command.
Yuvraj lashes at SRH, backs Abhishek Sharma as captain
While talking about the captaincy, India legend and SRH's IPL-winning all-rounder, Yuvraj Singh publicly spoke on the captaincy saga. He backed his mentee for not getting the captaincy, despite his mentee performing well over the last eight years.
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“Abhishek Sharma has been playing for the SRH for the last 7 (8) years and has been performing well for them. He has given his heart and soul to the franchise. He is also captaining at the state level, but he still didn’t get the captaincy of SRH," Yuvraj Singh told SportsTak.
Watch: Yuvraj Singh backs Abhishek Sharma for SRH captaincy
Interestingly, Abhishek Sharma has led Punjab in various BCCI domestic tournaments. Touted as a leader from a very young age, the 25-year-old batter has also captained India at the Under-19 level.
Ishan Kishan, on the other hand, has been an exceptional leader in the last season. Under his captaincy, Jharkhand won their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2025/26 season, thanks to his century in the final. That run for Jharkhand got Ishan Kishan back in the India squad, and later became a vital cog of the T20 World Cup squad earlier in the year.
Abhishek Sharma's transition from Delhi to SRH
After winning the U19 World Cup in 2018, Abhishek Sharma was picked by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), where he played a couple of enthralling knocks down the order. However, just after one season, Delhi decided to trade Abhishek, along with Vijay Shankar and Shahbaz Nadeem, to SRH for Shikhar Dhawan.
Although Shankar and Nadeem didn't fare too well for the Orange Army, Abhishek Sharma became a real gold in the SRH colours. He had his breakthrough year in IPL 2022, hitting 426 runs at a strike rate of 133.12. Meanwhile, for IPL 2024, the Punjab batter was asked to open with Travis Head after a breathtaking domestic season.
There has been no looking back for Abhishek Sharma since then. After his exploits as an opener, he was fast-tracked in the Indian set-up. Two years later, he played the 2026 T20 World Cup as the No.1 T20I batter, and he smacked an 18-ball fifty in the finals.
SRH backs first IPL 2026 win, Abhishek Sharma penalised
On Thursday evening, SRH won their first game of the season, thanks to Nitish Kumar Reddy's all-round performance against KKR. Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head gave them a great start, before Klaasen and Reddy provided the finishing touches. SRH ended the innings with 226/8.
In the defence, as Hyderabad restricted the opposition to 161 runs, Jaydev Unadkat picked a three-fer, while Reddy and Eshan Malinga snapped two wickets apiece. The first victory of the season became rather sour, as Abhishek Sharma was penalised for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct.
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