Eshan Malinga suffered a shoulder injury.
As Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) look to overcome the previous season’s debacle, a question has been common: Will Eshan Malinga be fit for IPL 2026?
Eshan Malinga fitness is a concern for SRH, who might also miss Pat Cummins for IPL 2026. SRH retained him ahead of the season after impressive performances in T20s.
Last Updated: 18 February, 2026
Eshan Malinga injury update revealed a left shoulder injury during the T20I series against England. He sustained this injury during the second T20I and was later ruled out of the competition.
Pramod Madushan replaced him in Sri Lanka squad for T20 World Cup 2026. While it was his non-bowling arm, Malinga was still uncomfortable and wouldn’t have been able to put his complete body into bowling.
Sri Lanka backed him for the tournament after impressive performances in the domestic and international arena, but he was ruled out even before the start. His injury came at the worst possible time for the co-hosts of the T20 World Cup 2026.
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Currently, there’s no Eshan Malinga return date. The reports suggest that the pacer will take at least 4-6 weeks to recover and might not be available for the start of the season.
But that’s again hypothetical, and Malinga might take more time to recover than initially expected. There’s also a possibility that Sri Lanka might restrict his participation in the event to keep him fit for international assignments later in the year.
Will Eshan Malinga play IPL 2026? It’s hard to predict at the moment, but chances are high that he might miss at least some early phase of the tournament.
Now that there’s some clarity to the question ‘Will Eshan Malinga be fit for IPL 2026’, it’s also worth understanding how SRH will need to cover for his absence. SRH have among the most vulnerable pace attacks in the competition, and if Cummins doesn’t play as well, their issues will exacerbate.
They have several uncapped bowlers in the setup who haven’t even played in the IPL level; some are yet to make their T20 debut. Hence, the onus will be on Brydon Carse to perform more, while Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat will be permanent members in the XI.
Carse is a lanky pacer who can hit the deck hard and generate high pace, something that will be required on flat IPL surfaces. Nitish Kumar Reddy might also need to chip in with a few overs at some stage.
The franchise hopes that whenever the question ‘Will Eshan Malinga play for SRH’ comes, the answer is not negative. However, SRH might still have started preparing for the worst possible scenario and will look to maximise available resources.
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