Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins to miss start of IPL 2026 as RCB, SRH await CA clearance: Reports

IPL 2026 is set to start on March 28 and the season opener between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Chinnaswamy Stadium will be without Australian stars Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

Both teams have been preparing for what is one of the most anticipated matches on the schedule, but sources from the Hindustan Times have now confirmed that neither side will have their Australian pace leaders available for the curtain-raiser.

The full picture of what that means for both franchises and how they plan to manage it is worth going through properly.

How Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins got here

Josh Hazlewood has not played competitive cricket since before the Australian summer began. He hurt his right hamstring playing for New South Wales in November, which ruled him out of the Ashes opener in Perth.

During that recovery Josh Hazlewood suffered a fresh Achilles injury that kept him out for the rest of the Ashes series and then the T20 World Cup. The right-arm pacer has been in rehab since and is still waiting for Cricket Australia's medical staff to clear him.

Pat Cummins has been dealing with a lumbar stress injury in his lower back since the Test series against the West Indies last year. The SRH captain managed one Test in the Ashes before stepping away from the remaining games once the series was won in Adelaide.

Cummins was then ruled out of the T20 World Cup. Like Josh Hazlewood, he is in rehab and waiting on clearance. Both Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are expected to play some part in the tournament once they are cleared, but neither will be ready for the opening weeks.

There is no firm return date, and the source who spoke to Hindustan Times Digital this week was clear that nothing has changed from the previous week. The clearance is still being waited on, and the rehab is ongoing.

"Nothing much has changed from last week," a source told the Hindustan Times. "The clearance is still awaited from the physios. The rehab is going on. Both Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins won't be able to make it in time for the opening few matches. However, they are expected to play some part in the tournament later on. It all depends on the clearance. As soon as it comes in, they will travel to India."

Also READ: KKR pacer Harshit Rana to sit out most of IPL 2026 after undergoing knee surgery: Reports

What RCB are losing and who fills the gap

Josh Hazlewood played a crucial role in RCB's title-winning campaign last season. He took 22 wickets in 12 matches and was the clutch player captain Rajat Patidar turned to in every pressure situation.

The moment that defined the entire season was the last over of the final against Punjab Kings, where Hazlewood defended 29 runs to win RCB their first-ever IPL title. That is the kind of bowler Josh Hazlewood is, and that is the gap RCB are heading into the season with.

Jacob Duffy is the most likely replacement for the opening games. He was signed with this exact scenario in mind and brings swing bowling and reasonable death overs control. Nuwan Thushara is another option with a different kind of action and good yorker accuracy.

Neither of them is what Josh Hazlewood is, but RCB have enough batting firepower with Kohli, Phil Salt, and Tim David to stay competitive while the bowling finds its shape. How they manage the opening games against SRH, CSK, RR and MI without their pace leader will tell a lot about how deep their title defence actually is.

What SRH are losing and the captaincy question that needs an answer

Pat Cummins is not just a bowler for SRH. Pat Cummins is the captain and the person the entire team structure has been built around.

Losing Pat Cummins for the opening weeks means SRH need to find answers in two departments at the same time, and that is a harder problem to solve than just replacing a wicket-taker.

On captaincy, Ishan Kishan reportedly looks the most likely candidate. He led Jharkhand to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title earlier this year, and that performance played a significant role in him getting back into the India setup for the World Cup.

Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Travis Head have also been mentioned, but Kishan's recent track record with the captaincy armband makes him the natural choice for now.

On the bowling side, Brydon Carse and Shivam Mavi are expected to carry more responsibility than originally planned, with Jaydev Unadkat bringing experience and control to support them. SRH play RCB in the opener and then face KKR, LSG and PBKS in their first four games. Getting through that run without Pat Cummins while also settling a new captain is a genuine challenge for a team that relies on his leadership as much as his bowling.