As the IPL 2026 inches closer, the list of injured players is growing. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the latest teams to suffer from injury concerns, as their prime fast bowlers, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are expected to miss the initial few games of the season. The Aussie pace spearhead, Pat Cummins has not played international cricket for some time now. His last appearance was against England in the December of 2025 at Adelaide Oval, where he picked three wickets in both the innings. The SRH captain missed the T20 World Cup 2026 due to injuries and since then has been working hard to return to full match fitness. Josh Hazlewood is in a similar situation. The Australian pacer last played in November 2025 for New South Wales. Following that, he missed the Ashes series and the T20 World Cup 2026 due to various injuries. According to a report from Hindustan Times, both players are set to miss out on the first few games of the IPL 2026, however, there is an outside chance they can make a comeback to the playing XI of their respective sides later in the tournament, once fit. There has been no official update from SRH or RCB so far regarding the availability of these players. Also Read | IPL 2026: 5 Most Trolled Indian Cricketers Who Can Silence Critics Replacement Options and Captaincy Contingencies RCB will have several options in line, if they lose Hazlewood for the opening games. New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy and Sri Lanka's Nuwan Thushara can be seen making their way into the playing XI. Sunrisers Hyderabad too have backups to the injury woes in the form of England pacer Brydon Carse and Sri Lanka's Eshan Malinga, should Cummins miss out. With the probable absence of Cummins in the opening game, SRH will need a captain in place. A report from Times of India suggests Ishan Kishan or Abhishek Sharma could lead the SRH side against the RCB in the opening encounter of the IPL 2026. Both players have captaincy experience to their names and have led Jharkhand and Punjab in the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy respectively. The IPL 2026 commences on the 28th of March, with the inaugural match between RCB and SRH at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. It will be interesting to see how both the franchises tackle the latest dilemma in their teams, but as of now, it has put a cloud of concern over both the sides, who will be hoping their star players return to the field at the earliest.