Harshal Patel is in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Impact Player list for today’s Eliminator against Rajasthan Royals at Mullanpur but the realistic expectation is that he will not feature in the game. SRH won the toss and chose to field first which is the key detail that makes his inclusion largely academic.

Harshal is a death bowling specialist. His entire value in white-ball cricket has been built around his ability to bowl in the final four overs and execute cutters and variations under pressure. SRH will bowl first which means Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga, Pat Cummins, Sakib Hussain and Shivang Kumar will handle all 20 overs of the RR innings.

By the time the second innings arrives the Impact Player substitution window will have passed for SRH having been used or carrying over to the batting innings.

SRH vs RR: Why Harshal Patel lost his place in the XI in the first place

The numbers behind Harshal’s IPL 2026 season explain his demotion more clearly than any selection statement could. He played five matches, bowled approximately 14 overs, conceded 148 runs and took zero wickets.

An economy rate of 10.83 across those overs with no wickets to show for them represents the kind of return that removes a bowler from playoff consideration regardless of reputation or price tag. SRH paid Rs 8 crore for him at the auction and received nothing in terms of wickets and very little in terms of economy.

Uncapped domestic bowlers who cost a fraction of that price outperformed him consistently through the season and the selection panel had no defensible reason to keep him in the XI once the younger options proved more effective.

SRH vs RR: The broader picture for Sunrisers Hyderbad’s bowling today

Pat Cummins leads an attack that includes Eshan Malinga with 15 wickets and the experience of Sakib Hussain and Praful Hinge who have both contributed meaningfully in the second half of the season.

Cummins himself has been the captain who energized SRH when he returned from injury and his message at the toss was characteristically direct about keeping things simple and leaning into individual strengths.

That philosophy has no room for a bowler who has not taken a wicket across five matches. Harshal remains available as an emergency option if something goes dramatically wrong during the chase but in a knockout match where SRH’s bowling combination has been working the probability of Cummins turning to him is as close to zero as a named Impact Player can get.

SRH vs RR Playing XIs and Impact Player list

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): 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.

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja.

Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact subs: Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel

Rajasthan Royals Impact subs: Shubham Dubey, Sushant Mishra, Aman Rao Perala, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande