Defacto Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins is set to fly back to Australia to have one final scan on his injured back. The right-arm pacer has not played regular cricket since July 2025, with just one Ashes test in between.
According to reports from ESPNcricinfo, Cummins’ scan was scheduled well in advance, with Cricket Australia (CA) wanting to oversee it. The 32-year-old has left the SRH setup right after their victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. Should everything go according to plan, the Australian captain will be able to rejoin the squad on April 17, a day before the 2016 champions take on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, if cleared by CA.
This is in accordance with what Cummins said before the start of the tournament. The fast bowler also confirmed that he has been back bowling in training and aims to be fully fit when he returns to India after his final scan.
“If nothing goes wrong, [I’ll] play the back half [of the IPL] plus the finals,” Cummins said prior to the start of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season on the Business of Sport podcast.
“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,” he added.
In the absence of Cummins, SRH appointed Ishan Kishan as their captain for the 2026 season. The left-hander saw his side suffer defeat at the hands of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on the opening day of the new campaign before bouncing back to beat KKR in West Bengal on Thursday, April 2.
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SRH have also relied on Eshan Malinga and David Payne as their overseas fast bowlers, with Cummins and fellow Australian Jack Edwards both injured.
