Vettori hails Unadkat as 'rock' for SRH in Pat Cummins' absence

SRH coach Daniel Vettori lauded Jaydev Unadkat as a "rock" for the team, filling the void left by injured captain Pat Cummins. Vettori praised his reliability, all-stage bowling ability, and valuable off-field insights on domestic players.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Daniel Vettori opened up on the role of experienced campaigner Jaydev Unadkat in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is out owing to a back injury. Vettori hailed Unadkat as "an incredibly reliable bowler" and said that he is a "rock" for the Hyderabad-based franchise with Cummins not playing. Pat Cummins, the designated Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, is currently rehabilitating from a back injury and sitting out the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 matches.

Unadkat a 'rock' for SRH

Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of SRH's match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Sunday, Daniel Vettori described Unadkat as a dependable "rock" for the team, capable of bowling effectively at all stages and providing consistency in the absence of Pat Cummins "Like Pat, he (Jaydev Unadkat) has the ability to bowl in all stages of the game, and that's incredibly important when the scoring is so high. So even if he doesn't get off to a good start, we know that we can trust him in the middle and back end. He's just an incredibly reliable bowler who understands his game because he's been around so long. He's been around so long in the IPL as well. So, he's just a little bit of a rock for us with Pat out," Vettori said.

Impressive Start to IPL 2026

Unadkat has been impressive in both the matches that SRH have played so far. In the first match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he claimed figures of 1/29 in 3 overs. In the second match, he claimed an excellent three-wicket haul, giving away just 21 runs in three overs against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

'A Valuable Resource' Off the Field

Daniel Vettori said stand-in captain Ishan Kishan uses Jaydev Unadkat in multiple ways, praising him for both his on-field performance and off-field insights, particularly his deep knowledge of the Indian domestic players, making him a valuable resource for the players who may not have much information about the domestic players. "You can see that Ishan uses him in a myriad of ways. I think the last ten games for us, he's been incredibly impressive. So you have that in terms of on-field, and then off-field, he's just another solid, solid guy that you can speak to about the game. He has a good understanding, and he has a really good understanding of domestic players around the country, so we utilise him a lot in terms of his information around; some players that maybe the coaching staff haven't seen a lot of, but because he's played so much domestic cricket, he's a valuable resource for us," Vettori said.

SRH's Campaign So Far

SRH started their IPL 2026 campaign on a poor note as they faced a six-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their campaign opener, but bounced back well in their second game as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs at the Eden Gardens. SRH are now going to face the Lucknow Super Giants in their third game of the IPL 2026 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on April 5. (ANI)

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