IPL 2025: Ambati Rayudu identifies key issue of Sunrisers Hyderabad
What's the story
Former Indian cricketer, Ambati Rayudu, has pinpointed a major flaw in Sunrisers Hyderabad's performance in the 2025 Indian Premier League season.
After SRH's fourth consecutive defeat of the season, against Gujarat Titans, Rayudu stated that the team's bowling is more of a concern than their batting.
This comes as SRH continue to struggle in the ongoing tournament.
Bowling concerns
SRH's middle overs bowling under scrutiny
Rayudu stressed on SRH's need to pick wickets in the middle overs, which could change their fortunes.
As per ESPNcricinfo, in IPL 2025, the Orange Army have recorded just 12 wickets in Overs 7 to 16 at an average of 41.33. Their economy rate of 9.92 is the third-worst among all 10 teams.
This stat underlines a major area of concern for the struggling franchise.
Strategy critique
Rayudu criticizes SRH's defensive strategy
In a recent interview on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show, Rayudu said, "I don't see SRH trying to take wickets. They are just about being defensive and trying to stop batsmen from scoring boundaries."
He further added that "You don't win the IPL with mediocre middle-overs bowling. You need some really good middle-overs bowlers to pick up those wickets."
These comments highlight his criticism of SRH's current approach on the field.
Batting issues
Batting woes: SRH's aggressive strategy backfires
Ahead of IPL 2025, many had predicted that SRH would be the first team to score over 300 runs in a match.
They got off to a flying start with a score of 286/6 against Rajasthan Royals in their IPL 2025 opener.
However, this ultra-aggressive strategy has failed as they have since posted lower scores (190/9 vs LSG, 163 vs DC, 120 vs KKR, and 152/8 vs GT).
Partnership woes
Opening partnership struggles: Head and Sharma's performance
Star openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have failed to give SRH explosive starts.
Although Head scored 67 and 47 in two matches, Abhishek has only been able to score a total of 51 runs from five innings.
The team's best opening partnership in their last four games has been a paltry 15 runs.
This lack of strong beginnings is yet another problem for the struggling franchise.
Advice
Rayudu offers advice to Abhishek Sharma
Despite Abhishek's poor form, Rayudu doesn't think it's a big deal. He said, "I think he just needs a shift in his mindset."
Rayudu advised Sharma to concentrate on hitting boundaries along the ground and running singles to get his rhythm back.
He thinks once Sharma gets into his groove, the big shots will come naturally as he has trained for them.