SRH New Captain -IPL 2026: Sunrisers Hyderabad confirmed that Australia pacer Pat Cummins will continue as captain for the 2026 Indian Premier League season. The franchise made the announcement on Monday, November 17, through its official X account.
The 32-year-old has led Australia to a 50-over World Cup win and an ICC World Test Championship title. SRH acquired him in the 2024 IPL auction for Rs 20.50 crore. He was named captain ahead of IPL 2024 and guided the team to the final, where they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders. In IPL 2025, SRH finished sixth on the points table. Before joining Sunrisers Hyderabad, Cummins played in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals.
Read Also | IPL 2026 Retentions: Full List of Retained, Released and Traded Players by All 10 Franchises Ahead of Mini-Auction
Cummins has been out of competitive cricket since July 2025 due to a lumbar bone stress injury. The injury ruled him out of the India series and the first Ashes Test. He is expected to return for the second Test in Brisbane. In his absence, Steven Smith will captain Australia in the Ashes opener on November 21. The second Test will begin on December 4 in Brisbane.
SRH retained players for IPL 2026 include Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, R Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Pat Cummins (C), Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, and Zeeshan Ansari.
The team released Mohammed Shami in a trade deal with Lucknow Super Giants. Other players released include Abhinav Manohar, Atharva Taide, Sachin Baby, Wiaan Mulder, Simarjeet Singh, Rahul Chahar, and Adam Zampa.
