Batting woes aplenty for Sunrisers as well-oiled Titans come calling

At first glance, it's hard to believe that Gujarat Titans (GT) have been more explosive than Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2025. GT have thrived on consistent contributions from B Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler, who has seamlessly slotted in at No. 3. In contrast, SRH have continued to struggle in the powerplay, unlike last year when they were the trendsetters.

Travishek haven't made the same impact, and the in-form Ishan Kishan has failed to build on an excellent initiation with his new franchise, having begun with a century. This has put too much pressure on the middle order of Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen and young Aniket Verma. Abhishek Sharma has struggled to replicate his explosive batting that saw him make his T20I debut for India. The real test is now to see if they can continue to keep up with the methods that brought them rich rewards last year. SRH have five 50-plus partnerships so far but they only average 21.68 per partnership, which is the lowest among all teams this season.

Their troubles aren't just restricted to batting. Mohammed Shami and Pat Cummins haven't been incisive and have conceded runs at an economy of 10 and 12.30 respectively and picked up three wickets apiece. They have tried different overseas options in Adam Zampa and Wiaan Mulder but neither of them has managed to impress. SRH average under five wickets per game and have the highest economy rate among all teams this season. They have an economy rate over ten per over in each phase, and are especially bad in the last four overs, where they concede at close to 17 per over.

In comparison, GT's top order has been leading them to robust starts. It has meant their undercooked middle order hasn't had to step in yet. They are coming off two back-to-back wins, the last one against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in particular was dominating from their batting standpoint. They also nearly chased down 244 in their season opener and scored 196 on a slower home surface against Mumbai Indians.

Sunrisers Hyderabad LLL (Last three matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Titans WWL

Shami, the purple cap holder when he played for GT in 2023, is now part of SRH's pace attack, as is Abhinav Manohar, who was previously part of GT's lower-middle order. GT's bench has two former SRH players - allrounders Glenn Phillips and Washington Sundar, both of whom are yet to play.

Simarjeet Singh has an economy rate of 13.44 across the nine overs he has bowled in three games so far. Jaydev Unadkat could probably get a look-in for his first game this season. Zeeshan Ansari's impressive performances could mean he continues as the Impact Player.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (probable): 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Nitish Reddy, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Heinrich Klaasen, 7 Aniket Verma, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Jaydev Unadkat/Simarjeet Singh, 11 Mohammed Shami, 12 Zeeshan Ansari

Kagiso Rabada missed the game against RCB and has since flown home for personal reasons. This could possibly mean a debut for Phillips although GT played only three overseas players in their last outing.

Gujarat Titans (probable): 1 Sai Sudharsan, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Jos Buttler (wk), 4 Sherfane Rutherford, 5 Shahrukh Khan, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Glenn Phillips/Arshad Khan, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Sai Kishore, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Prasidh Krishna, 12 Ishant Sharma

Abhishek Sharma made a seamless transition from the IPL to the Indian team after an outstanding run in IPL 2024, where he set the tone alongside Travis Head. However, he has struggled this season with three single-digit scores in four games. Will this challenging start alter his approach as he looks to bounce back?

Shubman Gill, Abhishek's closest friend, has slipped down India's pecking order in T20Is. Unlike Abhishek, Gill has been in sparkling form but hasn't yet converted his starts into big scores. Hyderabad must elicit happy memories for Gill, who hit an ODI double-century here against New Zealand.

Pitches in Hyderabad have been a belter since IPL 2024. The average first-innings score is 213. This is just the third game in Uppal this season, with pitches still fresh. SRH would welcome a return to home climes, where they hit 286 in their first outing.

Stats and trivia

• SRH have lost ten wickets in the powerplay in IPL 2025, the most by a team.
• SRH's death-overs economy rate of 16.89 is the worst this season.
• Mohammed Siraj is two short of 100 wickets in the IPL; Unadkat needs one more.

"Three losses in a row, I know everyone's affected by it, but that doesn't take anything away from how good a team we are. We've still got to keep believing that our style will come off, and we'll get that win and we'll get on a roll."
SRH head coach Daniel Vettori stresses on the need to keep belief in their methods

"Sometimes we expect and ask a lot of young cricketers, and somebody that has achieved as much as Siraj has, sometimes we are very quick to judge one or two performances. He is exceptional since he joined us."
GT director of cricket Vikram Solanki was all praise for Siraj