Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) interim captain Ishan Kishan powered his team to a thumping 57-run victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) by smashing a brilliant 91 off 44 balls at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday (April 13).

Sent into bat, Kishan stabilized the innings after early wickets and propelled SRH to a formidable total of 216/6 in 20 overs.

In reply, RR’s innings folded for 159 in 19 overs as SRH’s debutant pacers, Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain, shone by taking four wickets each.

After the win, Kishan addressed his decision not to keep wickets in the match, explaining that there was a breakdown in communication with his bowlers while he was behind the stumps.

The southpaw, who is leading SRH in the absence of regular skipper Pat Cummins, suggested this shift allowed him to be more proactive in on-field strategy, with Salil Arora taking over the keeping duties in his place.

“I think, as a captain, I felt, there was some miscommunication going on. Sometimes your keeping, time is not there. You're not able to communicate with your bowlers what the plans are. So it's better to be there, discuss with them what they're going to bowl so that we can... set the field accordingly. And that was the plan and I think it worked pretty well for us,” Kishan said at the post-match presentation.

When asked if this approach would continue, Kishan responded, "Hopefully, yes".

Kishan praised the bowlers for executing their plans and playing freely, crediting them for the 2-point addition to the table.

"Definitely very happy with this win, adding on to 2 points in the board, so I just felt happy because what we were looking for from the bowlers to just come here, play freely, execute their plans and I think we did that today and credit goes to all the bowlers hopefully."

Ishan Kishan justified giving debutants a chance at their home ground, citing their hunger, motivation, and hard work during the season under bowling coach Varun Aaron.

“I think you also have to look how hungry your young bowlers are, how motivated they feel and you know how much they are hungry to play these games and I think they were working out throughout the season. They were working with fielding, our bowling coach Varun Aaron and they were just trying to give their best, talking to all the experienced players. So I think that was something we were looking for and we had to give them chance when we are playing in our home ground. They especially did well in the practice matches as well, so I think this was right move today,” he remarked.

SRH’s explosive opening pair, Abhishek Sharma (0) and Travis Head (18), failed to leave a mark against the Royals.

Responding to whether SRH fell short with the bat, Kishan said: “I think looking at the batting unit and the form these guys are carrying because we have been scoring 200 plus runs in each and every game at least.”

He expressed full confidence in the aggressive approach of Abhishek despite falling for yet another duck this year.

“I think the way Abhishek plays, you know, sometimes he can get out, but our job is to, take the game deep and play those cricketing shots, but leave him freely because he's someone, if he gets going, he just changes game and gets you a total of 260 or 270. So we don't ask anything else from him. But still, yeah, he got out. I think he'll be motivated in the next game and he'll do...,” he concluded.