Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins has joined the squad, but is unavailable for the opening game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2026. The ace pacer is continuing his recovery from a lumbar bone stress injury in his back, a concern that is expected to delay his return to competitive action.
Nevertheless, he has started bowling in the nets and is taking one day at a time to monitor progress. He hasn’t shared a clear timeline for his return, but the Australia captain expects it to be in the middle of the season. He is gradually rebuilding his workload under a structured rehabilitation plan. Team management and medical staff are closely monitoring his progress, with a phased approach aimed at ensuring he regains full fitness without setbacks.
“I'm still recovering from a back injury, but it's good. I'm back bowling in the nets. 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 will) play the back half plus the finals,” Cummins said recently on the Business of Sport podcast.
Notably, just before the match, Cummins was spotted bowling in the nets. It's an indication that the pacer is on course to full recovery.
Ishan Kishan leads in Cummins’ absence
Hyderabad have appointed Ishan Kishan as captain in Cummins’ absence. Youngster Abhishek Sharma will serve as his deputy. Head coach Daniel Vettori spoke on what the keeper-batter brings to the table and also highlighted his success as captain.
“I think Ishan's been around in the IPL for a long period of time now. He's been with a number of teams and he's been highly successful, so, he brings in his own confidence around that. The fact that he's led the U19s and his state team and they won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year brings a confident person, a confident player and a really confident leader and those are the attributes that we really looked at when he was appointed,” Vettori said in the pre-match press conference.
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