Australia pacer Pat Cummins returns to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the first time in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. He returns to the squad for the important clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur. In his absence, Ishan Kishan led SRH in the opening seven matches, winning four of them.
The injury
The Australia skipper missed the first half of the group stages as he was recovering from a lumbar bone stress injury. He joined the squad for the initial stages but flew out to Australia for a few more scans at Cricket Australia’s (CA) request. He rejoined the SRH side recently after getting the all-clear from the cricket board.
“Still really fresh. It’s been a little while, but I’ve had really good preparation, a couple of bowls over here. I haven’t played a game for a while, so we’ll see how we go. But the body feels awesome,” Cummins said at the toss.
Cummins was named SRH captain in 2024 after he was bought by INR 20.50 crore, and for a brief time became IPL’s most expensive player until he was overtaken by Mitchell Starc.
Cummins has lead SRH in 31 matches, winning 15 of them. He has picked up 34 wickets for SRH in the IPL at an economy rate of 9.18.
In his first match back, Cummins has won the toss and has opted to bowl.
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