The Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 has reached the halfway stage, as most of the teams have played seven matches each in the tournament so far. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have had a start-stop IPL campaign so far. The Orange Army has probably found the right combination in the last few matches and has been performing brilliantly without regular captain Pat Cummins.
SRH is currently placed fourth in the points table. The Orange Army is set to play Rajasthan Royals tomorrow at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur. This is going to be a reverse fixture, as a few weeks ago, RR were demolished by SRH bowlers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
Two debutants, Prafulla Hinge and Saqib Hussain, demolished the Royals’ top order. However, now Pat Cummins has hinted at a return to the team after a long injury spell, with the SRH skipper posting his return date by sharing a post on Instagram in which he is bowling in the nets. Cummins was out with a lower back (lumbar) stress injury.
Looking forward to getting back into it tomorrow- Pat Cummins
“It’s been a long time, looking forward to getting back into it tomorrow,” Cummins captioned the post. This means that he is fit to play and ready to play against Rajasthan Royals tomorrow. Now the big question arises whether he will lead the team or not. Ishan Kishan has led the team well in the former’s absence.
Many former cricketers believe that Ishan Kishan should lead the team despite the return of Pat Cummins to the team, as it would be an insult to Kishan, who has been leading the team since the beginning of the tournament. However, there is no confirmation as to who will lead the team in tomorrow’s match between Ishan or Cummins.
Why did Cummins miss the first half of IPL 2026?
Pat Cummins has been battling a back injury since last year and has missed almost the entire season as he played only one Test match last year, which was against England, and also did not participate in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. He also did not participate in the T20 World Cup 2026.
However, Cummins joined the SRH squad and trained before returning to Australia in April for a final scan to confirm his fitness to play in the second half of the tournament. Now he has got the green signal from Cricket Australia to play in the rest of the Rich Cash League.
Will Ishan Kishan remain the captain?
Speaking on JioHotstar, Harbhajan said that SRH should avoid the temptation of immediately providing the captaincy to Cummins. Harbhajan said, “Ishan Kishan should remain the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad even after the return of Pat Cummins. It is a debatable issue, but if the team has backed a young leader, then they should continue with him.”
He said, “The bowlers and other players have developed a good rapport with him. Sunrisers Hyderabad will benefit from keeping Ishan as captain.” Tomorrow’s meeting is going to be interesting for the management.
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