SunRisers Hyderabad have one of the most envious batting lineups in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, and heading into the tournament, all everyone could think about was whether Pat Cummins and co breach the 300 run-mark in the 18th edition of the cash-rich league. The side came close in their opening match against Rajasthan Royals, scoring 286/6. However, the picture has not been hunky dory in the previous two fixtures, as the batters have failed to come to the party.
India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has now questioned SunRisers Hyderabad about whether the franchise has a Plan B. He also raised his concern about the team's continued slambang approach.
In the fixture against Lucknow Super Giants, SRH posted 190/9 in 20 overs, while against Delhi Capitals, the team failed to play out the full quota of 20 overs after being bundled out for 163. It is no surprise that SRH lost both of these fixtures.
Right from Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma at the top to Pat Cummins at No.8, all batters have been swinging their bat from the first delivery, and this approach has cost the side in the last two games.
"Firstly I was really surprised they chose to bat first (against DC). When you're playing an afternoon game, you know that the pitch will be slightly on the slow side, that's when you normally prefer to bowl and that's an ideal time to bowl, not an ideal time to bat. I thought they should have bowled first. But talking about their batting, I think they go too hard and they were not smart enough today," Pujara said on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show.
"What is your success then. If you are just winning two out of 10, then it doesn't make sense. You need to win more number of games. You need to show that consistency again and again. Last season we saw that they played brilliantly throughout the league phase but what if one game goes wrong for you in the knockouts, then you're not able you are not able to have a plan," he added.
Daniel Vettori vouches to go harder
{{/usCountry}}"What is your success then. If you are just winning two out of 10, then it doesn't make sense. You need to win more number of games. You need to show that consistency again and again. Last season we saw that they played brilliantly throughout the league phase but what if one game goes wrong for you in the knockouts, then you're not able you are not able to have a plan," he added.
Daniel Vettori vouches to go harder
{{/usCountry}}After the seven-wicket loss against Delhi Capitals, SunRisers Hyderabad's coach, Daniel Vettori, said he would not be having any conversations with his players as he wants them to continue with the aggressive brand of cricket.
Against Delhi Capitals, SRH were reeling at 37/4 inside the powerplay and it was due to Aniket Verma's blistering 74-run knock off 41 balls that the team managed to go past the 160-run mark.
"There's no conversations around tempering down. We definitely want to play an aggressive brand. If you look at our top three, that's how they play. They normally set the tone for the rest of us," Vettori told reporters during a post-match press conference.
"We understand when we play this way, there may be failure but hopefully we can come to the party and perform more often than not," he added.
SunRisers Hyderabad will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, April 3.