Sunrisers Hyderabad could be boosted by a potential return of regular captain Pat Cummins in the Indian Premier League 2026. Cummins has not played for the 2016 champions as he is recovering from a lumbar stress injury. Meanwhile, a report in Cricbuzz confirmed that Cummins will take a fitness test tomorrow, on Wednesday, at home.
There is some optimism that the Aussie ODI and Test captain will clear the test, and if he does so, he could be back in Hyderabad on Friday, April 17. The Sunrisers have won two of the five matches this season and will be up against the Chennai Super Kings in their next clash on April 18.
Cummins travelled back to Australia after joining SRH
Cummins had come to India on March 27, one day before the IPL 2026 kicked off. He travelled to Kolkata for SRH's next game against the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 2 but left home for scans. It was understood that he was far away from playing at that time.
Cummins confirmed he could play back half of IPL 2026
The Australia ODI and Test skipper had confirmed that he eyes a comeback in the back half of the IPL 2026. During an interaction with the Business of Sport podcast, he said that the best-case scenario will be a return to full fitness for the second half of the IPL. "I'm still recovering from a back injury, but it's good. I'm back bowling in the nets," Cummins said, in an episode recorded late last week. "The IPL is starting soon. I won't make the start of that, but it shouldn't be too long before I'm back out there playing.
"I'm back bowling. I'm bowling basically every third day at the moment. We've mapped out a plan to get me right by [the] middle of the tournament, so hopefully, if nothing goes wrong, [I'll] play the back half plus the finals."
SRH win two of five games
SRH have been hot and cold in IPL 2026. They have won two of the five matches that they played. They recently beat the hard-hitting Rajasthan Royals after two debutant bowlers - Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain - put up exceptional performances while defending 216 in Hyderabad. The two took four wickets each as SRH went on to win by 57 runs. SRH's previous win came against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
