Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) chances of qualifying for the playoffs have been dashed following their four-wicket loss to the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday, April 17 at the Wankhede Stadium.
With Hardik Pandya winning the toss and choosing to field first, the 2016 winners were limited to 162/5 in their 20 overs. It was SRH’s sixth loss in seven IPL 2025 games, and the host team won with 11 balls remaining.
“This season seems to be over for them, which breaks my heart. This was a crucial game. Once this is over, they will host MI before playing CSK. Although they might have a few victories, I believe this team is now far from qualifying. A single game can sometimes get you a long way, and I don’t think Hyderabad will make it,” Chopra stated on his own YouTube page.
SRH has not bowled well this season, according to the cricketer-turned-expert, and players like Ishan Kishan and Nitish Kumar Reddy have not shown up with the bat.
It’s unfortunate since they were playing well. They received two or three pitches that were unsuitable for them. Anyhow, they’re not bowling well. Nitish Kumar Reddy hasn’t really made an appearance yet in batting either. After Ishan Kishan’s 100-point performance in the opening game, nothing happened. This time, the team did not perform as well. He noted, “It hasn’t been a terrific tale.
In the current season, Nitish has amassed 131 runs from six innings at an average of 21.83 and a strike rate of 113.92, following a standout showing in the IPL 2024. Kishan, however, has only amassed 32 runs in six innings after smashing 106 not out in SRH’s first game against the Rajasthan Royals.
The prepared pitch completely defied my comprehension: Aakash Chopra,
Chopra questioned if relatively slow grounds, like the one at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, will always be a problem for SRH.
“I couldn’t even comprehend the prepared pitch after Mumbai won the toss and bowled. Should Hyderabad be forced to play on such a pitch, would they always run into problems? They were unable to bat when they played Gujarat at home on a 160-run pitch, he recalled.
Even after spending a significant amount of time at the crease, the 47-year-old noted that Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, two free-flowing batters by nature, were unable to consistently find the middle of the bat. In 7.3 overs for the first wicket, they amassed 59 runs.
Despite having a 50-run opening partnership, neither opener was as successful in getting out this time. They had never played slower than this. A man’s (Karn Sharma) webbing was torn, catches were dropped, and they had the opportunity to be out two or three times, but the bat was not hitting the ball. At the Wankhede, it was a very slow pitch. Something that no one saw coming. He pointed out that Hyderabad’s weakness—when the ball gets trapped a little—came to the fore, which is problematic.
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