Pat Cummins Set for SRH Return on April 25 Against RR, Confirms Vettori

Cummins, who has been recovering from a lumbar stress injury, had linked up with SRH on March 27, a day before their opening game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and travelled with the squad for the next fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders before flying home for a fitness test.

After passing the fitness test in Australia, Cummins is now on his way back to rejoining SRH. "He's flying today, so he will be with us, I think, this evening. The plan is for the 25th (of April)," said Vettori in the pre-match press conference on Friday.

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.

Vettori called those performances encouraging, but added that adjustments could still be made based on how conditions play out in various matches. "Obviously, we're very, very satisfied with the way that bowling group bowled, but we're going to have to check conditions again.

"We're playing on the same wicket as the last game, and obviously, Hyderabad's been exceptionally hot, so anticipating the wicket may be slightly different from the last one, and that may mean that we have to make some changes. But they'll be tactical changes, obviously, because the bowling group was so effective last game."

"9 for 5, that's what impressed me the most. Look, I think particularly against (Vaibhav) Sooryavanshi and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, who have been so incredibly successful since they've become an opening partnership, to, I suppose, have no fear going into that bowling spell.

"Two guys who I don't think ever bowled to either of them before, maybe a little bit in domestic cricket, but just still to have the confidence to go on and stick to their plans (that was impressive) and we know that that doesn't always work, but when it does work it's incredibly satisfying," he said.

Vettori signed off by backing openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head to come good. "Every opening partnership aims to be ultra-aggressive, but it's unrealistic to expect that to come off every time. We want to stick with that approach because when those two fire, we usually win.

"We've got a strong batting line-up behind them, and they've stepped up when the opening stand hasn't delivered. But when it clicks, it's one of the best partnerships in the competition. Other teams play in a similar way, so we know how important it is and want them to keep that freedom."

- IANS