The TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 has reached the halfway mark as most teams have played seven matches each in the tournament so far. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have had a start-to-finish IPL campaign so far. The Orange Army might have found the right combination since the last few games and are performing brilliantly without regular captain Pat Cummins.
SRH is currently in the fourth position in the points table. The Orange Army will play Rajasthan Royals tomorrow at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur. It will be a reverse encounter as a few weeks ago, SRH bowlers demolished RR at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad.
The two debutants, Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain, dismantled the Royals’ top flight. However, now Pat Cummins has hinted at his return to the team after his long series of injuries, the SRH captain has posted his return date on Instagram, while sharing a post that he has been throwing around in the nets. Cummins was out due to a lower back (lumbar) stress injury.
Sting to do it again tomorrow – Pat Cummins
Cummins captioned the post: “It’s been a long time coming, it hurts to do it again tomorrow.” This means he is fit to play and ready to face Rajasthan Royals tomorrow. Now, the big question that arises is 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 as it would be disrespectful towards Kishan who has been leading the team since the beginning of the tournament. However, there has been no confirmation on who will lead the team Ishan or Cummins in tomorrow’s match.
Why did Cummins miss the first half of IPL 2026?
Pat Cummins has been suffering from a back injury since last year and almost missed the entire season as he only played one Test match last year, which was against England, and did not even feature in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. He also did not feature in the 2026 World T20.
Although Cummins joined the SRH team and trained before returning to Australia in April to undergo final tests to confirm his fitness, to play in the second half of the tournament. He now has the green light from Cricket Australia to play in the rest of the cash-rich league.
Will Ishan Kishan continue as captain?
Speaking on JioHotstar, Harbhajan said SRH should resist the temptation to provide the captaincy to Cummins immediately. “Ishan Kishan should continue as captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad even if Pat Cummins returns. It is a debatable decision but if the team has backed a young leader, they should stick with him,” Harbhajan said.
“The bowlers and other players have developed good coordination with him. Keeping Ishan as captain will benefit Sunrisers Hyderabad,” he added. Tomorrow will be an interesting call for management.
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