IPL 2026: Is Pat Cummins playing in RR vs SRH Match 36?

Rajasthan Royals (RR) are setting up a total for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match No. 36 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, as the historic venue of the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur is hosting its first match of the season on Saturday, April 26. There were indications that Pat Cummins may return to leading the Hyderabad-based franchise to mark his first appearance in the nineteenth IPL edition.

RR vs SRH: Toss Update

The toss was won by Sunrisers Hyderabad, and the 2016 champions opted to bowl first against the Riyan Parag-led franchise in the game in Jaipur. Parag mentioned that his team has no issues in defending the target despite losing the toss, since he believes that their batting unit shines the brightest when setting up a total.

RR vs SRH: Cummins is back? Yes

The biggest moment of relief arrived for SRH fans when Pat Cummins stepped out for the toss, meaning that the Australian cricketer has made his maiden appearance this season and is expected to continue for the rest of the season, while Ishan Kishan has been relieved of his interim duties as the SRH captain. Harsh Dubey, meanwhile, made way for Praful Hinge, while Dilshan Madhushanka also missed out.

RR vs SRH: What did the captains say?

Pat Cummins, SRH captain,

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. (Your thoughts on the job that Ishan did?) He's fantastic. Yeah, four wins from the first seven games. I think he played the style that we really try and lead into here at SRH, that aggressive, fearless style approach.

(What is going to be important for your unit away from home?) We know the pitch really well in Hyderabad. I think the challenge when you go play away is trying to sense what a good score is, what short work or ball work. So I think it's the first game for this venue for the season, so it'll be a challenge for both teams. Yeah, I've come in for Madushanka and Hinge has come in Harsh Dubey.

Riyan Parag, RR captain,

We were looking to do that as well. But the last couple of seasons we have not done well chasing; no problems batting first. We know the wicket really well. We had our camp here. There might be dew, but it won't be too much. Last year we fell short by a couple of overs; we just want to put in a collective 40 overs. The middle order has to step up, and so do the others.

RR vs SRH: Playing XIs

Rajasthan Royals

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

Impact Substitutes: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey

Sunrisers Hyderabad

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

Impact Substitutes: Smaran Ravichandran, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Travis Head