IPL 2026: Why is Pat Cummins not playing KKR vs SRH Match 6?

Published - 02 Apr 2026, 19:32 IST | Updated - 02 Apr 2026, 19:35 IST

The three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) Kolkata Knight Riders will be taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in an epic enoucounter at the iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata on April 02.

Both the sides are coming off after disappointing losses in their respective IPL opening fixtures. KKR lost against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians in a high-scoring encounter at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other side, were blown away by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening match of the IPL 2026, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Hence, both the sides will be looking to bring their A game in this game and open their account.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss, and elected to bowl first in their home fixture. Depsite having a less experienced bowling attack, Rahane stated that he is backing his bowlers deliver in this encounter. It had rained recently in Kolkata, and that was the main reason behind choosing to bowl first, claimed Rahane.

Sunrisers Hyderabad's regular captain Pat Cummins was not named yet again in the playing XI by SRH due to his lumbar stress injury. The Australian fast bowler is not cleared to bowl in IPL, despite joining the SRH squad. He is expected to play in the second half of the tournament.

"We are going to bowl first. There is always room for improvement but there were a lot of positives. We don't generally don't see so much of grass, rain around and that's why we wanted to bowl first. Not sure with the dew as there's a breeze going around. It should be good for 40 overs. He is doing everything he needs to do. He should bowl soon. Going with the same team."

"We would have bowled first. But batting first, we have to see the ball and play accordingly. We have to come up with the best game for us. You have to go out and do the basics right. Only one point I would say is execution, we need to calm even if we are not in a very good situation. We will look to keep it simple in this game. I don't know yet, but he should be ready soon, he makes a big difference, with the bat as well. We have one change - Shivang comes in, keeping the wicket-taking options open, he has bowled well in the nets and we are giving him an opportunity."

Ajinkya Rahane (c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rinku Singh (vc), Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani

Impact Players: Finn Allen, Manish Pandey, Tejasvi Singh, Saurabh Dubey, Rovman Powell

Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, David Payne

Impact Players: Harshal Patel, Liam Livingstone, Eshan Malinga, R Smaran, Sakib Hussain