Hyper-aggression under review as SRH crash and burn for 3rd straight time in IPL 2025-OxBig News Network

“You have to pretty much hit every ball,” Abhishek Sharma told Ishan Kishan when Sunrisers Hyderabad bought the player in the Indian Premier League mega-auction in 2024. Kishan, let go from the Mumbai Indians side after a couple of really poor seasons, found a new lease of life at Hyderabad, hitting a terrific hundred in his maiden innings for the team.

Kishan was the shining star of SRH’s ruthless hammering of Rajasthan Royals, who conceded 286 runs—the second-highest team total in the history of the tournament. However, since then, things have gone horribly wrong for Ishan Kishan and nearly all the other batters at SRH, who have tanked in back-to-back games after their emphatic win vs RR.

The famed pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have not added anything of substance for SRH in the last 3 matches, resulting in the team dwindling at the bottom of the table this season.

On Thursday, April 3, SRH were handed their biggest defeat (by margin of runs) by KKR, who obliterated the side at iconic Eden Gardens. Chasing 201 runs, SRH scored 120 and were bowled out in just 16.4 overs. This was the second time in 4 matches that the tall batting order failed to survive the full 20 overs of the game.

A proud Pat Cummins addressed an uncomfortable chat at the end of the match, reasoning with the commentators if their hyper-aggressive batting style, which was their trademark last season, was needed at all. Could they not bat a little more sensibly to make sure they got more consistency in their side?

The SRH captain accepted, stating that it was perhaps time to look for other options in terms of their approach this season.

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“Not a great time (in the match vs Kolkata). I think this was gettable, pretty good wicket. Left too many in the field and then fell well short in the end. We need to be realistic, three games in a row it hasn’t come off for us. We need to maybe look back at whether we could have chosen better options,” Cummins said.

“Our batters are best when they take the game on, but looking back, maybe we could have taken different options,” he added.

The Australian berated the team’s attitude in the field. He slammed them for fielding poorly throughout the match and letting the balls cross to the boundaries due to silly mistakes.

The real challenge for SRH moving ahead

“(On what went wrong) It was mainly our fielding, overall bowling wasn’t bad. We should have taken a few catches and stopped them a bit earlier,” Cummins said.

The last year’s finalists have two choices ahead—both equally tough. Either back their template to the hilt, giving the team so much confidence that they stop caring about the outside noise, or change their approach- one that might provide stability in the long term, but would immensely hurt the team’s confidence this season.

In the end, the IPL is never easy. Last season, SRH breezed their way into the playoffs, but this time, they face a sterner test. The real challenge for SRH lies not in reinventing their game entirely, but in finding a way to adapt while keeping their confidence intact. It’s not about one season, but about how they can navigate adversity and bounce back, building a foundation for long-term success.