Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) stormed their way into the 2024 final but fell short. As they aim to go one step further, we take a look at key factors that could decide their IPL 2025 fate.
Australia’s World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins was given the SRH reins in the Indian Premier League 2024 and it almost brought them their second title. Sunrisers Hyderabad were arguably the most exciting team in the season, with a fearsome batting unit.
In the end, however, they couldn’t get their hands on the IPL trophy after losing to Kolkata Knight in the Qualifier and the final. Their weaknesses were exploited in the final stages of the tournament, something they needed to address in this new auction cycle.
Ahead of the IPL auction, SRH had fairly straightforward retentions. They retained Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy, with Klaasen receiving a whopping 23 crore.
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They went into the auction with the remaining 45 crore purse and acquired Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Shami and Harshal Patel for big bucks. How SRH shape their playing XI in the IPL 2025 with the available resources will be interesting to see.
The opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma was the biggest strength of SRH in the IPL 2024. The pair decimated bowling attacks for fun, taking the game away inside the powerplay itself. They made 691 runs in partnership with three century partnerships. On the back of their performance, SRH blasted 78 or more runs in the powerplay on five occasions.
Head smashed 567 runs in the season at an average of 40.50 while striking at 191.55, with one century and four half centuries. Head has continued his good run with runs across formats. Sharma piled on 484 runs at an incredible strike rate of 204.21 while averaging 32.26, including three fifties.
The India youngster has been in terrific form, recently blasting the joint fastest T20 century off 28 balls in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He then amassed 467 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy at a strike rate of 130. On Wednesday, Sharma annihilated the England attack with 79 off 34 in the first T20I.
How the duo of Head and Sharma perform in IPL 2025 will decide how far they go.
Heinrich Klaasen was a key figure for SRH in the previous edition. He made 479 runs in the season, averaging 39.91 at a strike rate of 171.07, with four half centuries. But his current form has not been great. In 16 T20 innings since July last year, Klaasen has scored 223 runs at an average of just 14.88 and strike rate of 121.
SRH have Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abhinav Manohar as the other options in the middle order. Reddy had an impressive season last year with 303 runs at 33 average and 142 strike rate. He has only evolved since and will be a key player for them.
Kishan and Manohar, however, haven’t done well in the last two seasons and will have to hit the ground running straightaway in a new environment. Considering all factors, the SRH middle order could fall apart if Klaasen doesn’t regain his touch.
Sunrisers Hyderabad had a longtime association with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan as their frontline seamers but it has come to an end. In the 2025 auction, they acquired the services of Mohammed Shami, Simarjeet Singh and Harshal Patel while buying back Jaydev Unadkat.
On paper, a trio of Cummins, Shami and Patel perhaps looks stronger. Harshal Patel was the leading wicket-taker in the previous season with 24 wickets for Punjab Kings at an economy of 9.73. Cummins took 18 scalps at 9.29 economy.
Shami missed the entirety of the IPL 2024 due to an injury but has been one of the best bowlers in the league in recent years, especially with the new ball. For three seasons between 2021-23, Shami claimed 67 wickets at an economy of around 7.85.
If SRH are to do well in the upcoming IPL 2025, they would hope the pace attack remains fit and clicks well.