Pat Cummins was appointed SRH captain after leading Australia to a World Cup win against India. He transformed a struggling side into record-breakers and title contenders, leading them to the IPL Final. He then won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, added more firepower to his side and returned to SRH aiming to replicate their 2024 heroics. However, that magic has since faded, with the beaten finalists limping through the league phase so far.
Here, at Insidesport.In, we look at what has gone wrong for the 2016 IPL champions in 2025..
The struggles of Travishek
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head took IPL by storm as SRH mocked bowling attacks across the tournament. While the duo did not always open together, they managed to stitch a formidable partnership, scoring more than 12 as a norm. However, this season, both have struggled for runs and consistency, hurting the Sunrisers’ chances of scoring well. Barring the game against PBKS, SRH openers have put up a 50+ partnership only once. Even that stand came at the Wankhede, in over 6 overs, nullifying any effect it had on the final score. In fact, their partnership of 171 was more than what they combined for in their 7 other games, highlighting their struggles.
Travishek in 2024 vs 2025
| 2024 | 2025 | |
| 15 | Inns | 8 |
| 691 | Runs | 316 |
| 49.35 | Average | 39.5 |
| 13.46 | Run Rate | 11.02 |
| 167* | Highest | 171 |
| 2 | 50 | 1 |
| 3 | 100 | 1 |
Shaky Middle order
SRH let go of Aiden Markram who has found a new lease of life as opener for LSG. Ishan Kishan’s arrival has also not made the desired impact. The left-hander has failed to score more than 20 in each of the 7 games since his debut 100. Nitish Reddy has also struggled for runs, while Heinrich Klaasen scored his 1st 50 of the season vs MI. Aniket Verma has impressed but there has been a collective middle overs failure, resulting in a sharp decline in fortunes. In 2024, Klaasen scored more than 400 runs, while Nitish Reddy also went past a tally of 300 for the season. Aiden Markram and Shahbaz Ahmed also made valuable contributions in a more all-around batting effort. That sense of collective effort has been lacking this season.
Big Buys, Small returns
Sunrisers Hyderabad retained 5 players from their IPL 2024 squad and splurged a lot more in the auction. The Orange Army spent 11.25 crore for Ishan Kishan, with another 10 crore for Mohammed Shami. Both players have done very little to show their worth. Kishan, since smashing 106 on his debut, has 33 runs in 7 innings. Shami has 5 wickets to his name in 7 games , conceding at 10.87 with an average of 52.20. Nitish Reddy, who was retained for Rs 6 crore, has managed 133 runs at a strike rate of 109. Rahul Chahar, bought for 3.4 crore, has bowled only 1 over in IPL 2025.
Reliance on uncapped talent
Despite boasting a side full of international pedigree, it is the uncapped players who have been SRH’s saving grace. Aniket Verma has hit more sixes than any other SRH batter this season. The 23-year-old has 171 runs to his name, with 14 sixes, striking at 172.72. Meanwhile, Zeeshan Ansari is the lead spinner, with Rahul Chahar on the bench and Adam Zampa ruled out due to injury. In the earlier games, even Simarjeet Singh starred with an impressive 2/46 Rajasthan Royals.
Shami, Cummins and lack of wickets
As a bowling unit, Sunrisers Hyderabad have simply failed to pick enough wickets. Harshal Patel is their leading wicket-taker with 9 wickets. However, that tally only places him at 19th in the Purple Cap race. Pat Cummins has 7 wickets to his name, while Shami has five. For context, Prasidh Krishna alone has 16 wickets, than Shami and Cummins (12) combined. Overall, SRH have picked up only 37 wickets, the least in IPL 2025. Their economy of 10.43 is also quite easily the worst, also with the worst cumulative average of 40.24.
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