Pat Cummins Returns for SRH vs RR in IPL 2026 Jaipur Clash

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins returned from a back injury to win the toss and bowl first against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. Cummins replaced Dilshan Madushanka, while Praful Hinge came in for Harsh Dubey in the SRH lineup. RR skipper Riyan Parag said he was happy to defend on a familiar wicket, noting dew may not play a major role. Both teams named strong playing XIs, with RR making one change and SRH bringing back their star pacer.

Key Points: IPL 2026: SRH Bowls First vs RR as Pat Cummins Returns

  • Pat Cummins returns as SRH captain after lumbar injury
  • SRH wins toss, bowls first against RR in Jaipur
  • Cummins replaces Dilshan Madushanka, Praful Hinge in XI
  • RR skipper Riyan Parag happy to defend on known wicket
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IPL 2026: SRH opts to bowl first against RR in Jaipur as Pat Cummins returns from injury

Pat Cummins returns from injury as SRH opts to bowl first against RR in Jaipur. Catch all updates from IPL 2026 match 36 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

"The body feels awesome. I've come in for Madushanka, and Hinge has come in for Harsh Dubey. - Pat Cummins"

Jaipur, April 25

Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and decided to bowl first against Rajasthan Royals in match 36 of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2026 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday.

SRH's full-time captain Pat Cummins came for the toss and will feature for the first time in this year's IPL after missing almost the first half of the season. He was recovering from a lumbar bone stress injury in his back.

Cummins replaced Dilshan Madushanka, and Praful Hinge was added to the playing XI, replacing Harsh Dubey.

Speaking during the toss, Cummins said, "We're going to have a bowl first. The wicket looks good, but we have to see what we need to chase down. (How are you feeling?) Still really fresh. It's been a little while, but I've had really good preparation, a couple of bowls over here. I haven't played a game for a while, so we'll see how we go. But the body feels awesome. I've come in for Madushanka, and Hinge has come in for Harsh Dubey."

RR skipper Riyan Parag said, "We were looking for the same as well, but having said that, last couple of seasons, we've not really done well chasing. So I'm happy with defending as well. I think we played most of our cricket here, the majority of our cricket here. We know this wicket really well. We have had our camp right because the season started as well. Seems like a pretty good wicket. Maybe a little bit of dew coming in later on, but it won't really play that much of a role. I feel the openers have done really well, but they can keep on doing well, and hopefully we can pick up our slack. (Combination the same?) No, we're going for one instead of three two."

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora(w), Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins(c), Shivang Kumar, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma

Rajasthan Royals Impact Subs: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey

Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact subs: Smaran Ravichandran, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Travis Head.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

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Priya S
Interesting to see Riyan Parag as captain. He seems confident about defending but SRH's batting lineup is dangerous - Abhishek, Ishan, Klaasen can take the game away. I think SRH made the right call bowling first, dew might make it tough for RR in the second innings.
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Kavya N
Missed Pat Cummins so much! He's such a crucial leader for SRH. And Praful Hinge getting a chance is good for Indian cricket. Hope he does well with the ball. But honestly, RR at home is always tough - Yashasvi and Jurel can anchor well.
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Deepak U
I don't understand why teams keep changing playing XI so much. SRH dropped Harsh Dubey after just one game? That's not fair to young players. Need more consistency in selection. Hope Hinge proves his worth today. 🤞
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Ravi K
Cummins back and SRH still have Travis Head as impact sub? That's insane depth! 😂 RR's bowling looks strong too with Archer and Jadeja. Should be a cracking contest. I'm backing SRH to chase down whatever target RR sets.
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Siddharth J
Good to see Pat back, but lumbar injuries are tricky. Hope he doesn't rush things. Also, why is Riyan Parag so casual at toss? He said "one instead of three two" - what does that even mean? 😅 Anyway, let's see if RR can defend on this surface.

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