Sunrisers Hyderabad's wait for their designated captain continues. Pat Cummins has left the SRH camp and returned to Australia for a final scan on his injured back, with Cricket Australia overseeing the procedure. Why Pat Cummins has gone back and will he return for SRH The scan is a scheduled one and there is no cause for alarm, Cummins is expected to rejoin the squad on April 17 if cleared by CA, which would bring him back right around the midpoint of the tournament, exactly as he had planned all along. Cummins left India at the end of SRH's last game against Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata on Thursday, making the trip back to have the scan conducted under CA's supervision before getting the green light to return. This was always part of the plan. Before IPL 2026 began Cummins had been transparent about his situation, saying that if nothing goes wrong he would play the back half of the tournament plus the finals if SRH got there. He had been bowling in training sessions since linking up with the squad ahead of the season opener against RCB in Bengaluru on March 28, which was an encouraging sign, but the scan is a necessary checkpoint before he can be cleared to play competitive cricket again. Also READ: What exactly does Shreyas Iyer have to win before India gives him the captaincy? The long road back for Pat Cummins To understand the significance of this scan you need to understand just how long Cummins has been dealing with this back issue. He first experienced symptoms in July last year and the third Ashes Test in December was his only competitive outing in that entire period. He had initially hoped to play in the T20 World Cup earlier this year but suffered what he described as a minor setback in his recovery and was ruled out. Speaking on the Business of Sports podcast roughly a week before leaving Australia for India, Cummins gave an honest assessment of where he stood. "I'm still recovering from a back injury but it's good. I'm back bowling in the nets. I won't make the start of the IPL but it shouldn't be too long before I'm back out there playing. We've mapped out a plan to get me right by the middle of the tournament." Everything since then has tracked along those lines. What SRH look like without Pat Cummins In Cummins' absence Ishan Kishan has been leading SRH and will continue to do so until the captain returns. Eshan Malinga and David Payne have filled the overseas fast bowling slots across the first two games and SRH's next fixture is on Sunday afternoon against Lucknow Super Giants at home in Hyderabad. The franchise will be hoping the April 17 return date holds and that the scan comes back clean, because a fully fit Pat Cummins in the second half of the IPL, bowling at his best on surfaces that tend to suit pace in the later stages of the tournament, would be a significant upgrade on what SRH have had available to them so far.