Pat Cummins was hit with a penalty for a slow over rate during IPL 2026 Match No. 56 between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. As SRH’s captain, Cummins was fined INR 12 lakh after the side committed its first over-rate offence of the campaign.
Slow over-rate fine for Cummins
The league confirmed that Cummins received the sanction because his team maintained a slow over rate during the contest against Gujarat Titans. Since it was SRH’s first breach of the season under Article 2.22 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct—covering minimum over-rate violations—Cummins was penalised INR 12 lakh.
Slow over-rate punishments have become a recurring feature in the tournament, with multiple captains being warned or fined in recent years for failing to complete the required number of overs within the stipulated time. Past examples include Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane, showing how frequently teams are brought to task when their over progression is not on schedule.
Match result compounds SRH’s troubles
- Sunrisers Hyderabad were dealt a heavy setback against Gujarat Titans, losing by 82 runs at Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday.
- In the chase, SRH were asked to reach 168, but they collapsed and managed 86 all out in 14.5 overs.
- The defeat left SRH facing a double blow: the on-field loss and the captain’s over-rate fine coming on the same night.
For SRH, it was also their most lopsided loss in the competition in terms of runs, exceeding their earlier 80-run defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders last season. That previous loss had seen them bowled out for 120 while targeting 201. This time, the batting collapse was even sharper, with SRH ending on their lowest-ever all-out score in IPL history.
The chase proved especially damaging because it was the first time since 2024 that SRH failed to pursue a sub-200 total in the IPL. Dismissed for 86, they fell 10 runs short of the earlier low of 96, which they set when playing Mumbai Indians in 2019 at Hyderabad—highlighting just how difficult the outing was with the bat.
Cummins looks to move on quickly
After the defeat, Cummins urged SRH to respond rapidly and put the result behind them. He said that setbacks like this can happen in T20 cricket, and with the team returning to familiar venues, they can draw confidence from the wins they had already built earlier in the season. He added that SRH had won five or six matches, and that should provide some breathing room while they focus on the areas that led to their collapse.
