File photo of Pat Cummins.© BCCI
2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have received a big boost ahead of their clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium as their designated captain Pat Cummins has confirmed that he will play his first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on Saturday. Cummins arrived in India ahead of the season but did not take part in the match. The 32-year-old flew back to Australia right after SRH’s thrilling win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 2 for a scan on his back. The Australian Test captain cleared the fitness test on Friday and has now confirmed that he will take the field against Rajasthan Royals.
“Been a long time coming, stinging to get back into it tomorrow,” Cummins shared in a social media post on his official Instagram handle, hinting at his return to the dressing room.
The Australian pacer has not played a single match since the Ashes series at home against England. He also missed the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2026, where Australia exited for the first time at the group stage.
In his absence, SRH experimented with their pace attack and found success in debutant fast bowlers Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain, both of whom claimed four-wicket hauls against RR at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium earlier this week.
Cummins will also take over the captaincy duties from stand-in skipper Ishan Kishan, under whose leadership Sunrisers Hyderabad won four of their seven matches and are placed fourth on the points table with eight points and a positive net run rate of 0.820.
Cummins is likely to replace fast bowler Dilshan Madhushanka, who has played just one match in IPL 2026 so far and conceded 36 runs while picking up just one wicket in four overs. Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, and Eshan Malinga will be the other three overseas players in SRH’s playing XI.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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