IPL 2026: Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins has started his recovery. The star Australian fast bowler joined the team's practice session at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday, 25th March. Cummins, who is recovering from a back injury, had a light practice session.

He was seen working on warm-up routines. He participated in fielding and catching drills, bowled a few balls with a reduced run-up, and showed glimpses of his old self.

The Australian ODI and Test skipper stayed out of competitive action for most of the last year owing to a lumbar stress injury, which he had picked up during the series against West Indies last year. After that, he had played in just one international match, and that too the Adelaide Test against England during December last year, and he also had the recently concluded T20 World Cup.

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Since the IPL 2026 is just a few days away, Cummins has revealed he will miss the first few matches of the upcoming season but is hopeful of a comeback halfway through.

"I'm still recovering from a back injury, but it's good. I'm back bowling in the nets," Cummins was quoted as saying on the Business of Sports podcast.

"The IPL is starting soon. I won't make the start of that, but it shouldn't be too long before I'm back out there playing. I'm bowling basically every third day at the moment. We've mapped out a plan to get me right by the middle of the tournament. Hopefully, if nothing goes wrong, I can play the back half plus the finals," he added.

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Star wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan has been named as the stand-in skipper of SRH for the first half of the season.

Cummins' comeback won't be just important for the Hyderabad-based franchise but also for Australia. Australia has a hectic international cricket schedule coming up. They will face Bangladesh for a two-match Test series later this year. Then they will face South Africa in a three-match Test series, part of the WTC cycle.

Australia will then face South Africa in a white-ball series and host New Zealand for a four-match Test series in their summer.