Jaipur, April 25 Skipper Pat Cummins said he is eager to return to action for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after recovering from a back injury, as the side prepares to face Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their eighth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 to be played at Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday.
“I feel excited. I feel like I've watched too much cricket lately without playing, so I'm itching to get out there. Yeah, stinging to get out there,” Cummins said in a video released by SRH on x.
Cummins also had special praise for stand-in captain Ishan Kishan, who has led the side in his absence in the opening seven matches.
"Boys have been on fire. It's been great to watch, so hopefully I can add something. I think for the most part, Ishan was good. I think when it comes to tosses, he was absolutely terrible. But outside of that, he was excellent. You know, he's been brewing, lots of energy, really good tactical moves from, you know, looking from the outside in,” he said.
“He's obviously a great thinker of the game. And alongside, you know, Abhishek out there as well, they've been running it, and it looks pretty smooth. So yeah, when I'm out there, I'm sure I'll be leaning on those guys as well. But yeah, well done, Ishan, he's been awesome,” he added.
Cummins also spoke about the challenges that pacers face in the IPL and how well the SRH young bowling attack has performed so far.
“IPL is a very tough place for fast bowlers, but I thought, I think all our guys have been exceptional. You know, a few of the young guys have come in,” he said.
“I think it's, well, I've certainly found it really hard to find the pace of IPL. Those guys look like they've, you know, hit it straight away. They've got the feel of the game. They're sequencing their variations brilliantly so far. So, you know, they already look like the complete players. It's not going to happen perfectly every game, but they've had a great start,” he added.
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 will take the field against the Rajasthan Royals. He 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.
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