Can Travishek, Klaasen, Reddy and Cummins push SRH to go one better?

In 2024, SRH made their first final in six years. They started with a bang, with five wins in their first seven games. Eventually, three more wins and an abandoned match left them tied on 17 points with Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the end of the group stage, but a superior net run rate meant SRH finished second. They then lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 1, but beat RR in Qualifier 2 to make the final, where they lost to KKR again.

SRH took the IPL by storm last season with their ultra-aggressive batting approach, going past 250 three times and setting a new record for the highest total in IPL history, 287 for 3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). With Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy still in the line-up, and with Ishan Kishan added during the auction, SRH are unlikely to change their template.

While they have that stellar top five, SRH are short on depth among local batters. Aniket Verma is in his debut season, Abhinav Manohar played just two games in 2024, and Sachin Baby last featured in the IPL in 2021. Hence, with captain Pat Cummins, Head and Klaasen as overseas lock-ins, SRH might look to include Kamindu Mendis to shore up their line-up.

Although SRH retained Cummins and signed back Jaydev Unadkat after initially releasing him, they will have an otherwise new-look bowling attack in 2025. Cummins and Unadkat now have the company of Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel and Rahul Chahar. Shami is likely to take the new ball, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, their mainstay since 2014, no longer with SRH. Among overseas bowlers, SRH can choose from Adam Zampa and allrounder Wiaan Mulder, while Reddy, Abhishek, Head and Kamindu could chip in with a few overs too.

1 Travis Head*, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen*, 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Pat Cummins* (capt), 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Mohammed Shami, 12 Adam Zampa*
* denotes overseas player

Abhishek and Head blew oppositions away last season and took the idea of maximising the powerplay to dizzying heights. But the duo couldn't carry their sizzling form into their last four games, across which they added just 15 runs. However, if SRH get lift-off from their openers even in half their games this season, opposition attacks could have nowhere to hide.

Mohammed Shami took 28 wickets in the powerplay at an average of 21.25 and an economy of 7.08 across the 2022 and 2023 IPL seasons. But an ankle injury, which required surgery, kept him out of cricket for over a year. Since his return, he has bowled in the powerplay in four T20s and picked up two wickets. He then proved his fitness and form by taking nine wickets in 41 overs during the Champions Trophy. If he stays fit and can strike with the new ball regularly, SRH won't feel Bhuvneshwar's absence as much.

Cummins missed the Champions Trophy with an ankle injury, but has started bowling again. He did not require surgery, and recovered through rehab. Last year's MLC final, which took place in July, was Cummins' last T20 appearance. With the WTC final and a Test tour to the West Indies coming up after the IPL, Australia will hope Cummins remains injury-free through the IPL.

Brydon Carse injured his left toe during England's tour of India prior to the Champions Trophy, which led to SRH bringing in Mulder as his replacement.