Pat Cummins is out of the 2026 ICC T20 Men’s World Cup, which is a significant setback for Australia. Sunrisers Hyderabad may also need to prepare for his absence in the 2026 Indian Premier League. Cummins recently shared updates in Sydney, stating that he is waiting for a scan to learn more about his condition.
As the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, he led the team to the finals in 2024. In his conversation with reporters, he expressed hope for recovery but acknowledged that the next scans will determine his future. He mentioned,
“We’ll just be guided by my back. We’ll have another scan in a few weeks, and if it’s good, then we’ll have a slow build-up. T20s are a little bit easier to get up for, that’s why I was so close to getting up for this World Cup.”
Pat Cummins on missing the World Cup
Cummins shared his desire to recover from back issues in time for the World Cup but faced a “minor setback” that disrupted his timeline. He said,
“It was really unfortunate. I feel pretty good, just a minor setback, and I just ran out of time, really. I’ll rest up for a few weeks and go from there.”
Additionally, he noted,
“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 after a follow-up scan, they thought it probably needs another couple of weeks, so the timeline just became a bit too tight.”
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Pat Cummins’ injury history
Cummins has been officially ruled out of Australia’s squad for the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup due to a recurring lumbar bone stress injury. He was initially included in the provisional squad, but a late January scan showed that more healing time was needed, preventing him from participating in the tournament starting on February 7, 2026.
The back issue has been ongoing since Australia’s tour of the West Indies in July 2025, limiting Cummins to just one Test during the Ashes series in December. Medical evaluations suggested a recovery period of around eight weeks, leading him to take a cautious approach given the busy Test schedule ahead, which includes series against Bangladesh, South Africa, and New Zealand.
Ben Dwarshuis has been named as Cummins’ replacement. Notably, Cummins, who captained Australia to victory in the 2023 ODI World Cup, last played a T20I in June 2024 against India.