Ishan Kishan will lead the SunRisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026 for longer as Pat Cummins has reportedly headed home to have a final scan for his injured back.
According to ESPN Cricinfo, Cummins will rejoin the squad on April 17 but only if cleared by Cricket Australia, given the Aussies have a packed schedule ahead of them that potentially culminates in an away Ashes series next year.
How many games has Pat Cummins played in IPL 2026?
The Aussie speedster, who was appointed as SunRisers’ skipper ahead of IPL 2024, is yet to play a game in the 2026 edition. The 32-year-old played only one Test during the home Ashes series and sat out of the remaining four due to the lingering back injury. Due to Australia’s jampacked schedule in the months to follow, Cricket Australia has chosen to manage his workload.
Speaking during the recent Business of Sports Podcast, the New South Welshman had said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
“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.”
Cummins has a promising record as a captain in IPL, winning 15 games out of 30, including ushering the SunRisers to the final in 2024.
Ishan Kishan-led SunRisers Hyderabad become the first side to defend a score in 7 completed IPL matches
With the 2026 edition dominated by the bat, teams batting second have won all of the games except for one. The only exception thus far came in the game between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the SunRisers at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. Batting first, the Orange Army amassed 226/8 in their stipulated 20 overs, thanks to Heinrich Klaasen’s 52 and cameos from Travis Head (46), Abhishek Sharma (48) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (39).
In response, KKR began well and Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored 52 but their overall batting performance was poor, thereby tumbling to a 65-run defeat.