SunRisers Hyderabad are not missing their mercurial captain Pat Cummins on the field, head coach Daniel Vettori said ahead of the team’s second match of the season. Speaking at Eden Gardens before their clash against Kolkata Knight Riders, Vettori praised stand-in skipper Ishan Kishan, saying he was very happy with the wicketkeeper-batter’s leadership.
Australia’s Pat Cummins is set to miss the match against KKR due to a nagging back injury that has kept him out of action since the T20 World Cup 2026. Cummins has spent more than six months on the sidelines, dating back to Australia’s away series in the West Indies last year. The fast bowler played just one Test in the Ashes in December 2025 before being ruled out again by Cricket Australia.
The fast bowler is currently bowling in the nets but is not fully fit to play yet. He is expected to return to the line-up midway through the season.
In Cummins’ absence, Vettori backed Ishan Kishan to deliver for SunRisers, adding that the batter was exceptional against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening game, a match that SRH lost by a massive margin.
“We’re fortunate enough that Pat has been around the group and he’s been able to have conversations with Ishan about his captaincy style,” Vettori said.
“But Ishan has been highly successful in his captaincy career so far. So whilst it can be slightly different, we don’t look at it as a negative at all from the point of view of captaincy,” he added.
