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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) went down to Mumbai Indians (MI) by seven wickets in match number 55 of IPL 2024 at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Monday, May 6. Sent into bat by MI, SRH were held to 173-8 as no Hyderabad batter crossed the half-century mark.
Sunrisers did well to dismiss Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir cheaply. However, Suryakumar Yadav (102* off 51) hit a sensational hundred and added 143* for the fourth wicket with Tilak Varma (37* off 32) as Mumbai Indians raced home to victory in 17.2 overs.
SRH's loss to MI on Monday was their third defeat in four matches in IPL 2024. As Sunrisers Hyderabad look to get back on track with an eye on the playoffs, we analyze three big concerns for the franchise:
#1 Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma's loss of rhythm
The brilliance of openers Travis Head (444 runs from 10 innings) and Abhishek Sharma (326 runs in 11 innings) was one of the key reasons why Sunrisers Hyderabad dominated the first half of IPL 2024.
Head clobbered 62 off 24 against MI in Hyderabad, 102 off 41 versus Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Bengaluru and 89 off 32 versus Delhi Capitals (DC) in Delhi.
Meanwhile, Abhishek slammed 63 off 23 against Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad, 37 off 12 versus Chennai Super Kings in Hyderabad and 46 off 12 against Delhi Capitals in Delhi.
In recent matches, though, both Head and Abhishek have looked out of rhythm while opening the batting for SRH. In his last four innings, Head has registered scores of 1, 13, 58 and 48.
His 58 against Rajasthan Royals, though, came off 44 balls. The Aussie also enjoyed a lot of luck in his knock of 48 against MI. He was bowled off a no-ball and was dropped once.
As for Abhishek, he has registered three straight low scores. The young left-hander was dismissed for 15 off 9 against Chennai, 12 off 10 against Rajasthan and 11 off 16 in SRH's most recent encounter against Mumbai Indians.
Considering how heavily Hyderabad have been dependent on their openers to deliver up front, their loss of form is worrisome for the franchise, especially with the fight for playoffs getting tense.
#2 SRH's chasing woes
Sunrisers Hyderabad have been brilliant while batting first on most occasions and have posted some exceptional totals. However, the same batting line-up has struggled while chasing, something opposition teams have taken a note of.
In their first match of IPL 2024, SRH went down by four runs in a chase of 208 against KKR at the Eden Gardens. They successfully beat CSK by six wickets in a home game, but in that match, they were chasing a below-par total of 165.
After registering three consecutive wins while batting first, against Punjab, Bengaluru and Delhi, Sunrisers Hyderabad went down to RCB and CSK. On both occasions, they batted second.
Hyderabad were set to chase 207 by Bengaluru in a home game. They faltered under pressure and were restricted to 171-8. In the away game against Chennai, the Sunrisers were set to chase 213 and were bundled out for 134 in 18.5 overs.
#3 Absence of wicket-taking spinner
Sunrisers Hyderabad have impressive pace bowling resources for IPL 2024. Seasoned left-arm pacer T Natarajan has claimed 15 wickets in nine matches at an average of 21.20.
Skipper Pat Cummins has also done a good job with the ball. In 11 matches, he has 13 wickets. Veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar has lifted his game after a slow start, while Jaydev Unadkat has also made some handy contributions.
SRH, though, are struggling in the spin-bowling department when it comes to picking up wickets.
Leg-spinner Mayank Markande has claimed eight wickets in seven matches, but his scalps have come at an economy rate of 11.77, which is a bit too high. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed has only picked up three wickets in 11 matches and has gone at an economy rate of 11.27.
Hyderabad also tried out Washington Sundar in a couple of games. He returned figures of 0-27 in three overs against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad and 1-46 in two overs against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Sundar hasn't played for the franchise since then.
