Kishan calls for fielding improvement even as SRH cruise past KKR

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan lauded his team’s collective effort in their emphatic 65-run victory over three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League 2026 clash at Eden Gardens, but flagged fielding as a key concern despite the convincing result.

“I think we are getting to know about the areas in every game. So, fielding is something we need to work on as a team. We cannot be giving 20-odd runs in each game. So, we will have to work there because in the IPL, 20 or 10 runs make a huge difference in a T20 game. So, we’ll work on it as a team,” he said, underlining the need for sharper execution in tight moments,” Ishan said after the victory.

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Kishan, however, expressed his pleasure to see the entire unit stepping up and deliver SRH’s first win of the season, stressing that the performance reflected the collective energy he had demanded before the game.

“Not at the way I played, but the way the rest of the team. It’s always the team. So, really happy the way they were committed on the ground and everyone was putting their energy, and that was something I asked for before the game. I was just happy to see all of them putting their effort,” he said after the match.

He credited Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma for laying the foundation with a blistering 82-run Power-play stand, which allowed the middle order to settle despite a tricky surface.

“No, I don’t think the pitch was that good, to be very honest. I think Head and Abhishek played beautiful knocks out there, and getting those all 80 runs in the power play made the game easy for us because I think every batter got that extra time to take singles and understand how the pitch is playing,” he noted, while also praising contributions from Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

On the bowling front, Kishan highlighted the importance of early breakthroughs, pointing to Harsh Dubey’s dismissal of Finn Allen as a turning point, while also singling out debutant Shivang Kumar for his fearless approach under pressure.