Australian star Pat Cummins has asserted that playing international cricket—particularly in the Test format—remains his ultimate priority over the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Ahead of his team’s last league stage match of IPL 2026 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper stated that he never wants to miss a Test match, and that his international duties will continue to be his primary focus for the foreseeable future.
The Australian Test captain clarified that his involvement in the IPL works well because it typically aligns with the squad's designated holiday break. However, his loyalty remains firmly with the "Baggy Green," and any decisions regarding league participation will be evaluated to ensure he is available for as many international fixtures as possible.
Cummins also explained that this was the primary reason behind taking a lengthy break to recover from his lower back injury during this IPL season. As a result, he missed SRH’s first seven matches and Ishan Kishan was named the franchise’s interim skipper.
“Nothing has changed for me, my priority is Australian cricket, No. 1, particularly Test cricket. As Test captain, I never want to miss any Test cricket and make myself available for as many Aussie games as I can,” Cummins said while speaking to ESPNcricinfo.
“The IPL is good in that it normally fits in our holiday break, so that's the obvious one, but they are probably my main focuses and I don't see that's going to change at all for the next few years for me at least,” he added.
Pat Cummins sustained a lumbar stress injury sustained midway through last year. He featured in only one Test matches of the 2025-26 Ashes series, after which he prioritized long-term fitness and took a deliberate, extended break from white-ball cricket.
Cummins, 33, stated that the time off worked wonders, and his body currently feels as good as it has in six or seven years.
“I actually feel really fresh for the last four months. I haven't played as much. So physically, I feel as good as I have probably in six or seven years. I think a lot of the reason why I did probably miss longer than perhaps I could have was with the next 18 months in mind,” Cummins remarked.
“Stress fractures in your back do recur quite often and we just wanted to eliminate all that risk to make sure that if I had a problem in six months, that could rule me out of a lot of those 20 Tests. So physically, I feel great. My back's fully healed, really strong. We took a very low risk approach to the rehab to give myself the best chance to play all those Test matches,” he concluded.
Since returning to the SRH side, Cummins has been a vital anchor for the Sunrisers Hyderabad attack, combining crucial breakthroughs with an impressive economy rate.
