Pat Cummins is set to return to Sunrisers Hyderabad and resume the captaincy, giving the franchise a timely lift as the IPL season moves into its more unforgiving stretch. The Australia fast bowler had been sidelined with a back problem, but ESPNcricinfo reported this month that follow-up scans in Sydney cleared him to rejoin the squad, with a late-April comeback on the cards.
That return always looked likely to bring a leadership reset with it. When Cummins was ruled out of the opening phase, SRH appointed Ishan Kishan as interim captain, with the franchise and subsequent reporting making it clear the arrangement was temporary rather than a long-term handover. The expectation from the start was simple enough: once Cummins was fit, he would take his team back.
Now that moment appears close. Recent reports say Cummins has confirmed his availability for SRH’s match against Rajasthan Royals, which would mark his first appearance of the 2026 campaign and, in all likelihood, his return as captain as well.
For Hyderabad, this is about more than one player coming back into the XI. Cummins is their bowling spearhead, but he’s also the side’s emotional centre in tight moments. SRH have managed the gap as best they could under Kishan, yet Cummins’ absence was always felt — tactically, in the field, and just in the general shape of the side. ESPNcricinfo’s earlier reporting noted that the plan was for him to feature in “the back half plus the finals,” which underlined how important the franchise considered his return for the business end of the tournament.
Kishan, for his part, was never brought in to start a captaincy debate. He was filling a gap. He did that job while Cummins recovered, and by most accounts handled a tricky situation without much fuss. But SRH built this team with Cummins as the full-time leader, and once he is medically cleared and match-ready, the captaincy going back to him feels less like a decision and more like the restoration of the original plan.
So unless there is a late change in fitness or travel plans, Sunrisers are about to get both their captain and one of their most influential cricketers back at the same time. In a season that can turn very quickly, that’s not a small development. It could shape the rest of their campaign.
