Bengaluru: The long wait of cricket fans is ending today, because the Indian Premier League (IPL) is about to start. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening match to be held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Sunrisers' regular captain Pat Cummins is not playing in this match, in his place young wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan will take command of the team. With this match, Ishan Kishan will make a special record in the history of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Ishan Kishan ready to create history

At the age of 27 years and 253 days, Ishan Kishan will become the youngest Indian captain to captain Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, he will be the second youngest captain overall in the history of the franchise. This record is in the name of New Zealand's Kane Williamson, who captained the team in 2018 at the age of 27 years and 244 days. Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been Indian players who captained Sunrisers.

Shock due to Cummins' injury

Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the first half of the season due to back pain, which is a big blow for Hyderabad. It is very important for the team, which finished sixth last season, to make a good start this time. Keeping this in view, the team management has expressed confidence in Ishaan.

What did head coach Daniel Vettori say?

Head coach Daniel Vettori said that the management did not have to think twice about making Ishan Kishan the captain. He told, “Ishaan has been a part of IPL for a long time. He also has experience of captaining the Under-19 team and his home team. This time the team won the title in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy under Ishan's captaincy, which has boosted his confidence. Vettori also said that the friendship between opening partner Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma will prove beneficial for the team.

one more special thing

This season is special for another reason, which is rarely seen in IPL history. This time all the ten teams of the tournament are starting the season under the leadership of Indian captains.