Pat Cummins is SRH's full-time captain in IPL 2026. Credits - AFP
In developing news, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) received a positive update from Cricket Australia (CA) on Thursday regarding their full-time captain, Pat Cummins.
The one-time champions have so far played five matches in the IPL 2025, all under Ishan Kishan's captaincy. They have won two games and lost three fixtures.
However, SRH have started to look like a formidable force, especially after their last game against the Rajasthan Royals, thanks to debutants Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain.
Ahead of their crucial fixture against CSK, the Sunrisers have received clearance on Pat Cummins, who flew back to Australia earlier in the month to undergo a scan conducted by CA.
Injury-free Pat Cummins set join SRH
Pat Cummins have given a nod by the Cricket Australia. His issues with the recurring back injury have also been resolved, and the fast bowler will join the SRH unit ahead of their next fixture.
"(Pat) Cummins' latest set of scans on Wednesday confirmed the back stress issue that limited him to a single match of professional cricket since last August has now resolved," the Cricket Australia stated in a release.
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It is worth mentioning that the Australian captain will join the Hyderabad-based franchise on Friday (August 17); however, he is targeting the April 25 match against the Rajasthan Royals as his return.
Notably, SRH will play half of their league matches by the time of the Rajasthan match, which is set to be played in Jaipur.
Stand-in Ishan Kishan leading by example
In Pat Cummins’ absence, Ishan Kishan has been leading from the front. The stand-in captain scored an explosive 38-ball 80 on his IPL captaincy debut, and then he walked the talk with 91 as SRH became the first team in IPL 2026 to defeat Rajasthan.
As SRH bagged their second victory of the season, skipper Kishan took a daring bait to drop two senior bowlers, Jaydev Unadkat and Harshal Patel, against the Royals. The bold move worked like a charm as two debuting pacemen scripted history. Praful Hinge became the first to take a three-fer in a first over in the IPL, while Sakib Hussain returned with a solid four-wicket haul.
Slowly but steadily, Kishan is getting the groove of captaincy in high-intensity IPL games. As against RR, he was sharp both as a batter and a captain. With Cummins still not 100% match-fit, the wicketkeeper will need to lead SRH in their next two crucial home games - vs CSK and DC.
Worrying bowling a concern for SRH?
SRH have one of the smashing batting line-ups this season, with firepower from number 1 to 7. Although the terrorising pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have not fired yet, Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy are covering up for the openers. Moreover, the uncapped Salil Arora and Aniket Verma have mixed well with the SRH mindset.
Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain looked promising vs RR, but the former was questionable in his later spells. And with Eshan Malinga, Shivang Kumar and Harsh Dubey in their ranks, SRH’s bowling is one of the most undercooked line-ups in the IPL 2026.
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