Australian captain Pat Cummins has set an optimistic roadmap for his return to competitive cricket, targeting the latter stages of the IPL 2026 season as he continues recovering from a lumbar stress injury that disrupted his recent campaign.

Cummins, who has been sidelined since experiencing back discomfort in July last year, has not had time on the field. His only appearance since then came during the third Test of the Ashes in December. He also missed the T20I World Cup 2026. With his recovery still ongoing, Cummins will miss the opening phase of the IPL season for Sunrisers Hyderabad. In his absence, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has been given leadership duties and is set to captain the side early in the tournament.

"I'm still recovering from a back injury, but it's good. I'm back bowling in the nets. The IPL is starting soon. I won't make the start of that, but it shouldn't be too long before I'm back out there playing," Pat Cummins said on Business of Sport podcast. 

"I'm back bowling. I'm bowling basically every third day at the moment. We've mapped out a plan to get me right by middle of the tournament, so hopefully, if nothing goes wrong, play the back half plus the finals."

Meanwhile, Cummins has expressed strong confidence in Kishan’s leadership abilities. Kishan recently led Jharkhand cricket team to victory in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in December.

"Ishan's had a really successful captaincy stint with his local side in the last year or so. Those guys, you're leaning on anyway. We've got quite an experienced bowling group of local guys, so a few of the younger guys that come through that I don't know as well, particularly early on in a season, I'm definitely leaning on the local guys who do know them well or even speak the language," he said.

"Most of the guys speak really great English, but some of them don't, and there are local dialects, so that can be a little bit of a barrier for an international captain."