Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

SRH's batting woes: Time for a rethink, says Cummins

April 04, 2025 00:26 IST

'Our batters are at our best taking it on, but you have to think about if you could take different options.'

Ishan Kishan

IMAGE: SRH's Ishan Kishan reacts after his dismissal against Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata on Thursday. Photograph: BCCI

Having endured their third successive loss, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins on Thursday said his hard hitting batters might need to alter their approach going into the next match.  

Chasing a target of 201, SRH's batting once again faltered as they were bowled out for 120 in 16.4 overs to suffer a massive 80-run loss.

"Not a great night tonight. In the mid-innings break, we thought it was gettable. It was a pretty good wicket. Gave away few too many in the field and obviously fell short (with the bat)," Cummins said.

"You have to be realistic -- three games in a row, it has not come off for us. Less than two weeks ago, we put on 280. Our batters are at our best taking it on, but you have to think about if you could take different options."

Cummins also pulled up the fielders for their shoddy performance.

"Probably more (disappointed) with our fielding - a couple of catches, and a few misfields that we have to tidy up.

"Overall bowling was not bad, they batted well towards the end. We only bowled three overs of spin - did not think there was a lot of spin. Cutters were gripping (for the pacers), so went down that path."

KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane lauded the team, especially the batters, for setting a 'great example.'

"This game was really important for us. Winning by a big margin was crucial. Even we wanted to bowl on this wicket. When we lost two early wickets, we wanted to consolidate till 6 overs - play with intent but play cricketing shots," he said.

"And then when we have wickets in hand, guys down the order can get as many runs as possible. Happy with the batting unit. The last two games were not up to the mark for us, but we learned a lot from our mistakes.

"This is a great example for us as a batting unit. Rinku and Venkatesh - those guys can play brilliant shots."

Talking about the bowling performance, Rahane said: "Initially, we thought 170-180 on the surface would be good. Slower balls were gripping. We had three quality spinners.

"Moeen, unfortunately, couldn't bowl tonight. Sunny and Varun bowled really well. Credit goes to Vaibhav and Harshit as well."

On Rahane's captaincy, spinner Varun Chakravarthy said: "He is captaining us for the first time, and he was the best tonight. We did not go for the other bowler, wanted to drag it till the end because Andre always bowls at the death very well.

"He is the number one T20 batter, and you can never take it for granted when (Heinrich) Klaasen is around. The last two games were tough. The loss was really huge.

"But last year, we had such losses, we wanted to back our batters, not blame each other. Take your time, get acclimatized to the pitch, and then in the last five overs, you can score 70-80 runs."

 
© Copyright 2025 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.