Why is Harshal Patel not playing SRH vs RR clash of IPL 2026
Harshal Patel played in SRH’s previous game in IPL 2026.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) are locking horns in the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League 2026. The venue of the clash is Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
The winner of the Eliminator will clash with Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 2. The losing team will be eliminated from the tournament.
SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to field first in the encounter Harshal Patel missed out on SRH’s playing XI. He featured in the previous game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Why did Harshal Patel miss SRH vs RR Eliminator?
Patel has been dropped for the encounter. SRH have replaced him with Praful Hinge in the playing XI. Patel has been dropped due to his poor form.
Notably, he remained wicketless in all five matches he has played in the tournament. Patel was picked as one of the impact substitutes in the clash.
Speaking at the toss, Cummins said, “We are going to have a bowl first. (Does having played finals before help?) I’m not sure really. I think maybe if you’ve played a few, you feel a bit more relaxed about it. But yeah, I think the most important thing is you are coming off having played really good cricket, which our guys are doing”.
“We like to keep it pretty simple. There might be one or two guys or moments where we feel like we need to have a good plan for, but outside of that, we just want to lean into guys’ strengths. (Any changes?) Hinge comes back in”.
SRH’s playing XI vs RR: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w), Heinrich Klaasen, Smaran Ravichandran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins(c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge.
Why is Harshal Patel not part of SRH vs RR clash?
He has been dropped for the encounter.
Who has replaced Harshal Patel in SRH’s playing XI vs RR?
Praful Hinge has replaced Harshal in SRH’s playing XI vs RR.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.