One side\u2019s journey toward the IPL 2026 final will come to an end tonight, with Sunrisers Hyderabad set to face the Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator at New Chandigarh. Led by Pat Cummins, SRH head into the knockout clash with a clear edge from the league stage, having already beaten RR twice this season. With both teams chasing the same prize, Hyderabad will be desperate to make it a third straight win\u2014but their path could be blocked by a rising name who has been turning heads: 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.<\/p>\n
The matchup has thrown up contrasting themes for Hyderabad in their meetings with Sooryavanshi this year. In the earlier encounter, SRH managed to contain him and limit his impact. But in the second game, the youngster produced a stunning batting display, launching a rapid century. Even so, Hyderabad still won both fixtures, keeping their advantage over Rajasthan intact.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the Eliminator, Cummins addressed the challenge of planning for a batter of Sooryavanshi\u2019s calibre. He stressed that while bowlers focus on their core strengths, top-class players require deeper preparation\u2014especially when they can swing games on their own. The captain also indicated that Hyderabad have identified multiple approaches to counter the teenager, with the side ready to adapt if the first plan doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
When asked about the need for backup strategies, Cummins said, \u201cAs a bowler, it\u2019s always about understanding what you do well and how you\u2019re going to bowl to your strengths. But when there are one or two players in every side who can take the game away from the opposition, you end up spending more time working on a Plan B or a Plan C. So, we\u2019ll plan for him. Even though he scored a hundred against us last time, I felt there were moments when we actually bowled quite well and managed to keep him quiet. At other times, he got away from us. So we\u2019ll learn from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cummins was also questioned on whether Hyderabad\u2019s perfect record against Rajasthan this season could provide an extra lift going into the Eliminator. He played down any sense of complacency, underlining that knockout cricket resets the contest and demands a fresh mindset from ball one. Still, he acknowledged that previous meetings offer useful insights that can be carried into the high-pressure encounter.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re obviously starting from scratch again, but you do take learnings from previous games,\u201d Cummins said. \u201cWe\u2019ve played them twice. We\u2019ve had a good look at a lot of their players. A lot of our guys can reflect on those matches where they\u2019ve had success and lean on that heading into the finals. So it\u2019s always nice coming up against a team that you\u2019ve had some success against.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One side\u2019s journey toward the IPL 2026 final will come to an end tonight, with Sunrisers Hyderabad set to face the Rajasthan Royals in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026 Eliminator: Pat Cummins\u2019 SRH vs RR Preview","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"SRH vs RR IPL 2026 Eliminator: Pat Cummins eyes a third straight win over RR at New Chandigarh as both sides battle for a place in the final.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n