Pat Cummins Says IPL 2026 Participation Will Depend on Back Fitness

IPL League, beginning from March 26. But he added that his prospects of playing, and to what extent, would depend on the recovery of his back. Talking to AAP, Cummins said, “We will just go by how my back feels. I will have another scan in a few weeks. If everything looks fine, then I will slowly start training again. T20 matches are a bit easier to return to, which is why I was very close to playing in the World Cup.”

The Australian captain had skipped the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and India because of a “minor setback.” He has been suffering from a back injury for the past seven months and could play only one Test in the five-match Ashes series at home.

Pat Cummins said that,

"It was really unfortunate," "I feel pretty good, just a minor setback and just ran out of time really. I'll rest up for a few weeks and go from there."

"We knew after the (Adelaide) Test match we were going to need somewhere between four and eight weeks to let the bone settle right down before then building back up. Initially, we thought it might only be four weeks, because I was feeling really good, but just had a follow-up scan. They thought it probably needs another couple of weeks, so the timeline just became a bit too tight."

The reason he wants to return slowly is also because Australia has a very busy schedule over the next 18 months. The team will play home Test matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand, and also travel to South Africa and India. They will play the Ashes series away from home, take part in the ODI World Cup, and may also reach the World Test Championship final. Because of so many important matches coming up, Cummins wants to be careful and make sure his body is fully ready before playing again.

Pat Cummins added that,

"We thought the first half of the year was a pretty good time to be conservative with the amount of cricket that's coming up," "We'll get it right, then hopefully that will mean you won't have to worry about it, and you can just go out and play all those Test matches. Whereas, if you're not careful with it now and it flares up, you're chasing your tail a bit."