Australian captain Pat Cummins has confirmed that he will play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the upcoming IPL 2026 season, but will miss the MLC in 2026. The big announcement came after Cummins was ruled out of the initial matches of the ICC T20 World Cup.
Australia are battling a number of injuries ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, and a major concern is the uncertainty over Pat Cummins’ full return to the game.
Cummins last played a full series for Australia in July 2025 against the West Indies; He has been dropped and has not returned for a single white-ball game in the season. Cummins found himself sidelined for the majority of the Ashes series with only one appearance in Adelaide.
Pat Cummins confirms IPL move; MLC’s fate decided
The Australian speedster’s ability must have been a matter of concern for his national team; However, his franchise sides also rely heavily on him for many roles. Teams like San Francisco Unicorn in MLC and Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL have given him the captaincy of these teams.
Pat Cummins has now given a relief to his IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad by confirming his participation in the upcoming season, but on the contrary, he has also given a big blow to the Unicorns by confirming his withdrawal from the upcoming MLC season.
SRH’s frustration towards Australian players is such that they have offered two of the current best Australian players, Travis Head and Pat Cummins, exorbitant salaries to opt out of international cricket and play franchise cricket for Sunrisers franchises around the world.
Pat Cummins confirmed that he will play IPL this season but not Major League Cricket. https://t.co/6ISwpmSpb2
– Daniel Cherney (@DanielCherney) 20 January 2026
Will Pat Cummins play ICC T20 World Cup?
Yesterday, Chairman of Selection Committee George Bailey announced in a press release that Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the first few matches of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup and he may only be available in the latter half of the tournament.
He clearly said that Cummins, who has been recovering from a serious injury for more than half a year, has not yet completed his rehabilitation completely and hence he will not play at least the first three to four matches for Australia. Additionally, he has been dropped from the Pakistan T20I along with Josh Hazlewood and Tim David.
While the Australian selectors were positive about the return of Tim David and Josh Hazlewood for the ICC T20 World Cup, their uncertainty was evident when speaking about the World Cup-winning captain. Cummins’ return to Australia is in serious doubt.
IPL stats of SRH captains
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins was made the captain of the team in 2024 after winning IPL 2023 with the Australian team in India. In two seasons, he led SRH to the runners-up spot in 2024 and then missed the knockouts in 2025.
Cummins is a very important part of the SRH team, as they rely heavily on the Australian to strengthen their seam attack. Although they have players like Harshal Patel, Ishan Malinga and the experienced Jaydev Unadkat, Cummins looks irreplaceable.
However, Sunrisers have their backup plans ready this time, with Brayden Carse and Jack Edwards already in the squad. In 72 matches in the IPL, Cummins scored 612 runs with his bat and took 79 wickets. His two best seasons with the ball came in the last two seasons after attending the Sunrisers camp.
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