After Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)'s fourth successive defeat in IPL 2025, this one against Gujarat Titans (GT), former India player Ambati Rayudu says their bowling is a bigger concern than their batting.
Rayudu feels if they are to turn their fortunes around, they need to pick up wickets in the middle overs. In five games, SRH have taken 12 wickets in that phase (overs 7 to 16), with their average (41.33) and economy (9.92) being the third-worst among the ten teams.
"I think more than their bowling, it's their batting that is struggling," Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show. "In the middle overs, they don't have anybody who can pick up those crucial wickets and put the opposition under pressure - like how GT have done with Sai Kishore, Rashid [Khan] and Prasidh Krishna. They really tightened the screws.
"I don't see SRH trying to take wickets. They are just about being defensive and trying to stop batsmen from scoring boundaries. You don't win the IPL with mediocre middle-overs bowling. You need some really good middle-overs bowlers to pick up those wickets."
On the batting front, before the season started, many expected SRH to post the first 300-plus total of the tournament. They started with 286 for 6 against Rajasthan Royals in their first game, but since then, their ultra-aggressive approach has backfired. While they did score 190 for 9 against Lucknow Super Giants, their scores in the last three games have been 163, 120 and 152 for 8.
Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have failed to give the team good starts. While Head has scores of 67 and 47, Abhishek has managed just 51 runs in five innings. In the last four games, SRH's best opening partnership has been 15. Rayudu, though, does not think Abhishek's form is a cause for serious concern yet.
"I think he just needs a shift in his mindset," he said. "Just hit those few boundaries along the ground, beside mid-off, [or] mid-on; run those singles; get your 10-15 runs; [and] get your blood flow going. Then the big shots will always come because you have trained for it. You are there to hit them, and they will come. Just spend a little time on the basics. I think SRH will have to come to basics now.
"All their top three actually like [good] length a lot. So they are looking to clear the infield and hit those sixes off length, which they have been practising of late. Their backlifts have changed. Abhishek Sharma's backlift has changed, Ishan Kishan does that. They are lifting the bat much higher so that their hands are higher and they can go for those big shots.
"So now what teams are doing is they're bowling really full to them. Still, these guys are trying to hit over the infield. I think they need to be slightly smart and just hit the gaps, because these are actually half volleys that people are bowling to them. I think a little shift in their mindset [is required], saying, 'Okay, if it is full, generally as a batsman we are all taught to wait for a full ball.' So that's all they need to do: wait for a full ball, hit the gaps, and then let them come and bowl those lengths or short balls, and then you can get after the bowling. They just need to ebb a little bit and then flow."