AGENCY
NEW DELHI, Apr 11
Languishing at the bottom of the IPL 2025 points table, last season’s finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad will be desperate to spark a much-needed revival as they gear up to host a high-flying Punjab Kings side in their upcoming clash in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Having started their IPL 2025 campaign with a resounding 44-run win against Rajasthan Royals, after racking up a mammoth 286, the Sunrisers looked on course for yet another stellar season, as they included another hitter Ishan Kishan to add more firepower into their top six. However, as the season progressed, Sunrisers gradually failed to live up to the billing, after losing four matches in a row.
SRH’s ultra-aggressive batting approach has backfired for them in their last three matches as they were restricted for underwhelming totals of 163, 120, and 152, resulting in crushing defeats, and the worst net run rate of -1.629.
Heading into Saturday’s match, Sunrisers Hyderabad will expect their misfiring top order to lay the platform for the middle order to explode and put up a big total. The Uppal Stadium in Hyderabad is known for relatively shorter boundaries, and the best way for SRH to arrest the slide is by getting substantial partnerships up at the top, before going all-out in the final five — a ploy that has worked for table toppers Gujarat Titans.
The opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who were instrumental in providing explosive starts for SRH last season, have struggled to hit their stride this year. Their highest opening partnership so far is a mere 15 runs. Head’s form has dipped significantly, with scores of 67, 47, 22, 4, and 8, while Abhishek has also found runs hard to come by, managing a top score of just 24 in five outings.
In fact, their new recruit, Ishan Kishan also failed to cash on to the early momentum of scoring a century in the season opener. Irrespective of their all-out approach failing to yield the desired results, head coach Daniel Vettori stressed on the need for better game awareness rather than a shift in philosophy after their last defeat.
“I think we know the style is going to work, but we have to respect conditions, and we have to assess really well and that’s probably something we haven’t done,” Vettori said.
Adding to their worries, is their under-performing bowling attack, led by skipper Pat Cummins. The pace attack comprising seasoned campaigners in Cummins, Mohammed Shami and Harshal Patel have failed to fire in unison, and the lack of a quality spinner in the middle overs has also impacted their performance.
In stark contrast, Punjab Kings have hit the ground running this season under the new leadership of Shreyas Iyer. The Indian star has not only led from the front with the bat but also showcased sharp tactical acumen, steering his side to three wins from their first four matches.
Punjab’s top order led by Iyer, alongside the young duo of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh have been in brilliant form with the bat, and would be expected to take advantage of SRH’s weak links.
Arya, fresh from a century against Chennai Super Kings in their previous match, has been a great positive for the side, while Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh have in them to wield their swords when the situation demands. The only weakness in the Punjab batting is the Aussie pair of Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis.
Coming to their bowling, Arshdeep Singh has led the Punjab Kings attack brilliantly, in the company of Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal and Marco Jansen, and would hope to continue in the same vein.
Squads:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Atharva Taide, Abhinav Manohar, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby, Heinrich Klaasen, Travis Head, Harshal Patel, Kamindu Mendis, Wiaan Mulder, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa, Simarjeet Singh, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat and Eshan Malinga.
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Josh Inglis, Xavier Bartlett, Kuldeep Sen, Pyla Avinash, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Harnoor Pannu, Aaron Hardie, Priyansh Arya, Azmatullah Omarzai.
