'Been a long time coming': Cummins confirms his availability for RR clash

Jaipur, April 24 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have received a big boost ahead of their clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Sawai Mansingh Stadium as their designated captain Pat Cummins has confirmed that he will play his first match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.

Cummins arrived in India ahead of the season, but didn't take part in the match. The 32-year-old flew back to Australia right after SRH's thrilling win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 2 for the scan on his back.

Australian Test captain cleared the fitness test on Friday and has now confirmed that he will take the field against the Rajasthan Royals.

"Been a long time coming, stinging to get back into it tomorrow," Cummins shared in a social media post via his official Instagram handle, hinting at his return to the dressing room.

The Australian pacer has not played a single match since the Ashes series at home against England. He also missed the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2026, where Australia exited for the first time from the group stage.

In his absence, SRH experimented with their pace attack and found success in debutant fast bowlers Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain, both of whom claimed four-wicket hauls against RR at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium earlier this week.

Cummins will also take over the captaincy duties from stand-in captain Ishan Kishan, under whose leadership Sunrisers Hyderabad won four out of seven matches and are placed at number four in the points table with eight points and a positive net run rate of +0.820.

Cummins is likely to replace fast bowler Dilshan Madhushanka, who played just one match in the IPL 2026 so far and gave away 36 runs by taking just one wicket in four overs. Travis Head, Heinrich Klassen, and Eshan Malinga will be the other three overseas players in the SRH playing XI.

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