Image: Sunrisers Hyderabad crash out of IPL 2025 after all-out aggression backfires / © InsideSport
The IPL 2024 was all about Sunrisers Hyderabad as their top-order batters like Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen were a nightmare for every bowling attack and in the first six overs, they used to smash bowlers all over the park and take control of the match early as their aggressive approach helped them set massive totals, and they even broke the record for the highest score in an innings, not once but twice. With this strong batting form, Sunrisers Hyderabad won 8 out of their 14 games and finished as runners-up in the IPL 2024. But things have taken a complete turn in IPL 2025. Surprisingly, the team kept most of their players from last season and even added more firepower to their batting line-up.
Yet, the results haven’t gone their way as so far, they have played 11 matches and managed to win only 3 and they are currently placed 8th on the points table and are already out of the playoff race as for fans, it’s tough to see such a talented team struggle and fail to qualify, especially after such a strong season last year. So what went wrong? The same players who dominated in 2024 have looked out of form in 2025. Their explosive batting hasn’t clicked, and their bowling has lacked consistency. Injuries, poor fielding, and missed chances have also played a part.
After getting the IPL 2024 on fire, Sunrisers Hyderabad were expected to continue their dominance in the IPL 2025, but after 11 matches this season, the team’s batting has clearly not lived up to the expectations and despite having an explosive batting lineup, no batter from the team has crossed even 400 runs so far, which highlights their inconsistency and struggles throughout the season.
At the top, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who were key to SRH’s success last year, failed to deliver consistently this time as Head has scored 281 runs in 10 innings at an average of 28.10, while Abhishek has 314 runs at 31.40 and although both have shown flashes of brilliance, including a century from Abhishek, their overall performance hasn’t given SRH the strong starts they were hoping for.
In the middle order, Heinrich Klaasen has been the most dependable, scoring 311 runs at a healthy strike rate of 153.96, however, even he has managed only one fifty in the tournament and hasn’t been able to finish games like he did in the past and Ishan Kishan, brought in to add depth to the batting, has scored just 196 runs despite remaining not out in two innings while Nitish Kumar Reddy and Aniket Verma have shown promise at times but haven’t converted their starts into big scores as their averages, both below 25, also tell the story of missed opportunities.
Overall, the Sunrisers’ approach of going hard from ball one has backfired in many matches and the team looked like they were chasing 300 in every game, and this ultra-aggressive mentality led to several batting collapses and as a result, despite playing 11 matches, no batter has touched 400 runs, which is a clear sign of their poor form and lack of consistency with the bat.
Just like the batting department of the team, the bowlers of the Sunrisers Hyderabad also failed to deliver in IPL 2025 and one of the biggest mistakes by the franchise this season was releasing two of their most experienced Indian pacers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan before the tournament began as both were key players in the past and had the ability to control the game in the powerplay and at the death and their absence left a huge gap, and the bowlers who replaced them could not rise to the occasion.
Looking at the numbers, none of the bowlers stood out as a consistent match-winner as despite having big names and variety in their bowling attack, SRH struggled with their line and length, often leaking runs in crucial stages of the game and there seemed to be no clear plan or execution, especially when under pressure as every bowler had phases where they went for too many runs, which eventually cost SRH close games and hurt their net run rate.
Jaydev Unadkat was one of the few bright spots in a short span as he picked up 7 wickets in 5 matches at an impressive average of 15.71 and an economy of 6.94, However, he wasn’t used regularly, which remains a question mark in the team’s strategy. Harshal Patel was the highest wicket-taker for the side with 14 wickets in 10 games, but he also conceded 321 runs at an economy of 9.44. He lacked control during the death overs, where SRH lost many matches due to poor bowling execution.
Captain Pat Cummins picked up 13 wickets in 11 matches, but his economy of 9.15 and average of 27.92 show that he couldn’t consistently contain the opposition. Even though he had a few impactful moments, the lack of support from the other end made his efforts less effective. The experienced Lasith Malinga, playing his final IPL season, got 6 wickets in 4 games but gave away runs at 9.46 per over, which made him expensive in the middle overs and the spin department was also a letdown.
Adam Zampa only played 2 games and was smashed for 94 runs in 8 overs, taking just 2 wickets. Zeeshan Ansari bowled more often but failed to deliver consistently, with 6 wickets in 9 games and a poor average of 51.83 and an economy of 9.76. The team lacked a reliable spinner who could create pressure in the middle overs and break partnerships.
Mohammed Shami, usually known for his control and ability to pick up wickets, was far from his best. He played 9 matches, took 6 wickets, and had an economy of 11.23, the worst among all SRH bowlers. His high average of 56.16 reflected how easily batters dominated him this season. Overall, the SRH bowling attack was a big disappointment in IPL 2025 as there was no clear bowling leader, no consistency, and no proper execution of plans.