Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins has provided a big update on his return to action and availability for the IPL 2026.
“We’ll just be guided by my back,” he told AAP. “We’ll have another scan in a few weeks, and if it’s good, then we’ll have a slow build-up. T20s are a little bit easier to get up for, that’s why I was so close to getting up for this World Cup.”
The Aussie captain who led the side to 2023 World Cup triumph expressed disappointment on missing out on T20 World Cup 2026.
“It was really unfortunate,” Cummins said. “I feel pretty good, just a minor setback and just ran out of time really. I’ll rest up for a few weeks and go from there.”
“We knew after the (Adelaide) Test match we were going to need somewhere between four and eight weeks to let the bone settle right down before then building back up. Initially, we thought it might only be four weeks, because I was feeling really good, but just had a follow-up scan. They thought it probably needs another couple of weeks, so the timeline just became a bit too tight.”
Australia have a packed schedule in coming days. “We thought the first half of the year was a pretty good time to be conservative with the amount of cricket that’s coming up,” Cummins said. “We’ll get it right, then hopefully that will mean you won’t have to worry about it, and you can just go out and play all those Test matches. Whereas, if you’re not careful with it now and it flares up, you’re chasing your tail a bit.”
Cummins has been troubled by a back injury for the better part of last seven months and he featured in just one Test of a five-match Ashes rubber at home.
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