Sunrisers Hyderabad players Pat Cummins and Ishan Kishan celebrate the wicket of Rajasthan Royals batter Riyan Parag during the IPL 2025. File
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The Sunrisers Hyderabad viewing experience is a lot like watching one of the films from the Mad Max universe. There’s an almost dystopian feel to the brand of cricket the franchise has championed since last season.
Against Rajasthan Royals in its opener, SRH followed the script down to a T. Ishan Kishan’s statement ton on SRH debut did the unthinkable — overshadowing Travis Head in a T20 game.
That said, the other teams are catching up. Chasing a mammoth 287, the Royals gave Pat Cummins’ men a scare before falling short by 44 runs.
On the other hand, Lucknow Super Giants — despite scoring 208 in its opener against Delhi Capitals — couldn’t get across the line. Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran’s ballistics for LSG went in vain after a blitz from Ashutosh Sharma in the final five overs helped DC clinch the win.
Rishabh Pant’s men need to regroup quickly ahead of the clash with SRH on the flat tracks at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.
Both bowling units need to step up. On paper, SRH has a strong quartet of Pat Cummins, Mohammed Shami, Adam Zampa and Simarjeet Singh, but they conceded a whopping 187 runs against RR.
Injuries have dented an already inexperienced LSG bowling arsenal with much riding on Ravi Bishnoi and youngsters like Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi and M. Siddharth. It might take a lot more than Shardul Thakur’s wiles to halt the Hyderabad juggernaut. Pacer Avesh Khan being available for selection after passing his fitness test will come as an added relief.
Published – March 26, 2025 08:40 pm IST