Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer believes Pat Cummins can be a bit rusty when he returns to action in the ongoing IPL 2026. Cummins is likely to take back the SRH’s captaincy baton from Ishan Kishan in the team’s next game against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Cummins was seen sitting in the dug out and he has fully recovered from a back injury, which he suffered ahead of the Ashes.

Meanwhile, SRH struggled in Cummins’ absence with the ball in the initial phase of the tournament but the likes of Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain and Ehsan Malinga have done a fine job for the Orange Army in the last few games.

Wasim Jaffer said on his YouTube Channel, “The obvious thing is that Pat Cummins will probably come in and take over the captaincy. But even if they continue with Ishan, I think it will be a wise decision in my opinion. The reason is that Pat Cummins has not played much cricket recently, so you can expect him to be a bit rusty. He has not bowled much in matches either, and he has not played a lot of T20 cricket recently.”

Jaffer said it won’t be a bad decision if SRH’s think tank decides to continue backing Ishan Kishan as a leader.

“On the other hand, Ishan Kishan is already doing a good job as captain. He has led the team well in seven matches and has taken them up to third place. So if they continue with Ishan Kishan as well, I do not think it is a bad decision in my opinion.”

The former flamboyant batter said Kishan is also batting well in IPL 2026. The left-hander has scored 238 runs in seven matches at an average of 34 and a strike rate of 188.88.

He concluded, “It looks like he is doing a good job, which is also being helped by the batters because he himself is batting well. Batting is their strong suit anyway, but it feels like the bowling is also improving further.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad will next take on Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur, on Saturday.