SunRisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins has revealed his potential IPL 2026 return date during a casual conversation with a fan while in Australia. The Australian right-arm speedster, who is the full-time captain of SunRisers Hyderabad, revealed that he is aiming to play April 25, Saturday game against the Rajasthan Royals set to be hosted by the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.
What has forced Pat Cummins out of the start of IPL 2026?
Cummins, a highly influential captain and bowler across all phases, has played only one match in recent times for Australia that came during the Adelaide Test against England in the Ashes series 2025-26. He was dealing with a back injury then and has not recovered from it fully, forcing him out of Australia’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign and SunRisers Hyderabad’s stint in the start of IPL 2026. In his conversations with fan, the New South Welshman also confirmed he will fly back to India on Friday.
Pat Cummins replying to fans on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/zEW9bzBgtl
— ORANGE ARMY (@SUNRISERSU) April 15, 2026
Cummins had come to India but flew to Australia for a final scan on his back injury. According to ESPN Cricinfo, the 32-year-old was due to return to India only if Cricket Australia gave him a green signal, keeping in mind the busy schedule for the national men’s side in the next 18 months or so.
How has SunRisers Hyderabad performed in IPL 2026?
Meanwhile, the SunRisers began their IPL 2026 campaign with an almost one-sided defeat to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium but bounced back to beat the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) convincingly in their following game. But the SunRisers went down to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Nevertheless, the 2016 champions ended Rajasthan Royals’ unbeaten run with a massive 57-run win on Monday in Hyderabad. Debutants Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain took four wickets each to announce their arrival in the IPL after stand-in captain Ishan Kishan’s whirlwind 91. But the SunRisers will face the Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before locking horns against the Royals again when Cummins will likely return.
