NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad big-hitting batter Heinrich Klaasen has lavished praise on skipper Ishan Kishan, calling him a superb captain and adding the way the side responds to the young wicketkeeper-batter has been ‘just phenomenal’, apart from his calmness in decision making and willingness to lean on experienced players in the set-up.
Kishan was named as SRH’s interim captain due to regular skipper Pat Cummins being unavailable for the initial part owing to his recovery from a lumbar stress issue. Under him, SRH have won one match while losing two games and are at fifth place on the points table.
“Look, I think he’s been superb so far. He’s a guy who does ask for advice. Like I said, we’ve got a lot of experience in the change room. So he leans on that as well. But his decision-making, the way he changes the bowlers, the way the team listens to him is just phenomenal so far.
“So like I said, we’re in superb hands, and he’s luckily not an arrogant guy at all, which makes it a lot easier. He’s a really enjoyable captain to play under. So there’s a lot of jokes in between to make it not so serious, because I think this environment can really be a tough environment to play under.
“I think he’s been superb, and he had some success in the domestic scene as well. I think his domestic team won a competition (Jharkhand won Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy under his captaincy). So there’s a lot of experience in that aspect. But so far, I really do enjoy his captaincy, and he’s been incredible so far,” said Klaasen, while replying to a query from IANS in the JioStar Press Room ahead of IPL 2026 Rivalry Week. IANS