RCB vs SRH, IPL 2026: Daniel Vettori Updates on Pat Cummins’ Return To Action

Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad will be up against each other in the first showdown of the Indian Premier League 2026 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday, March 28, 2026.

RCB are the reigning champions of the league and will start a fresh campaign to defend their title. They enjoy a massive fanbase around the globe, but weren't able to get their hand on the coveted trophy until 2025, when they finally broke their 18-year-old curse to lift their maiden title.

It was a momentous occasion for the franchise and an ecstatic end of a long wait, which even got the fiery Virat Kohli teary-eyed, who has been associated with the franchise since the beginning.

RCB recently got a change in their ownership in a massive INR 16,700 crore deal, which marks the beginning of a new chapter in the franchise's history.

On the other hand, SRH would be vying for their 2nd title, having won the trophy once back in 2016. The other time they came closer to winning the tournament was in 2014, when they reached the final on the back of a scintillating run but were outplayed by KKR in the final.

They are known to pack a punch with their explosive batting and will try to bat their way into the play-offs and then win the trophy for the second time.

Andy Flower Gives Update On Kohli's Fitness

Virat Kohli is an IPL giant and his record against SRH speaks for himself. RCB's head coach Andy Flower seems quite content with Virat Kohli's fitness. In the pre-match press conference, Flower praised Kohli's fitness and hunger leading up to the IPL.

"I've been watching really closely (Kohli batting at nets), he looks on top of his game, he looks super fit. I was watching him do shuttles the other day, he looks light on his feet, very fit, very lean, very hungry," said Flower in the pre-match press conference," Andy Flower said.

Virat Kohli last played competitive cricket back in January against New Zealand. While Flower acknowledged the gap, Virat has been without cricket, he almost didn't dwell much into it as he has been practising hard for the IPL and is looking in excellent touch in the nets.

Andy Flower said, "We have chatted about that (gap) actually and I've always enjoyed watching top-class players practise as much as playing in games. When I was playing I used to enjoy watching Sachin practice for instance, the same goes here even though I'm coaching, I really enjoy watching the masters of their art do their thing."

Flower even went on to say that Virat is currently at the peak of his powers.

"So, I think he's in a really good spot and watching him time the ball and strike the ball in training, I think he's at the peak of his powers. So, he's aware of the fact that he's playing less (cricket), but at the moment he looks at the top of his game," he said.

Andy Flower also expressed his thoughts on Rajat Patidar's successful season as captain last year, despite having limited experience of leading a side.

"It's pretty amazing that in Rajat's first year of captaincy he led RCB to the trophy, he'd only a little bit of captaincy experience before that I think for Madhya Pradesh. But we did like what we saw when we saw him leading.

"He's obviously a very likeable man and he's well respected in the dressing room. He's got high integrity, he stays nice and calm which I think the bowlers like a lot and he's got a good deputy in Jitesh."

Daniel Vettori Backs Ishan Sharma As Stand-In Captain

SRH's head coach, Daniel Vettori, believes that Ishan Kishan's immense self-confidence and experience of playing in the league make him the right choice for the stand-in captain's role.

Vettori also reminded that Ishan led his state team to the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy at the start of this year, which played a major role in bestowing him with the captaincy role.

“I think Ishan's been around in the IPL for a long period of time now. He’s been with a number of teams and he's been highly successful, so, he brings in his own confidence around that,” Vettori said in the pre-match press meet here on Friday.

“The fact that he's led the U19s and his state team and they won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year brings a confident person, a confident player and a really confident leader and those are the attributes that we really looked at when he was appointed.

“So when Pat (Cummins) was unfortunately out of the initial stage of the tournament, we had some decisions to make and his (Kishan’s) experience with his state team in particular had been so impressive and then he was in really good form. So, between Abhishek and himself, we feel like we've got a really good leadership group to lead us this year,” Vettori said.

When Will Pat Cummins Play?

Vettori also gave an important update on the fitness status of SRH's bowling mainstay, Pat Cummins. He said that though he has worked hard on his fitness during his rehabilitation, however he's still unsure about his bowling loads.

Vettori hoped that maybe in the next 10-12 days, Cummins could get baxck into the field playing for SRH.

“His fitness has been exceptional because he's been out of the game for an extended period of time, so, he's had that time to work on that fitness, a real block of work around strength and conditioning. The only challenge for him was the bowling loads.

“So once he got the all clear from Cricket Australia to build those bowling loads, it's obviously a bit of a painstaking process to get the lungs up to where he feels confident and strong about bowling. Hopefully, we can get a definitive timeline, probably in the next 10-12 days around when he can return to play,” Vettori added.