Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have once again left out their premier opener Travis Head from the starting XI in their IPL 2025 fixture against Delhi Capitals, continuing a recent tactical pattern.
Head, who was also not part of the XI in the previous must-win game against Gujarat Titans, features today (May 5) as one of SRH’s designated Impact Substitutes, and is expected to be brought in during the run chase.
This move is part of SRH’s bowling-heavy strategy when fielding first. With bowlers like Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga, and skipper Pat Cummins forming the core of the attack, the team is opting to field their strongest bowling unit upfront and save Head for batting duties as an Impact Player later in the match.
The Australian left-hander has had a modest season so far, scoring 281 runs in 10 matches at an average of 28.1, a drop from his standout 2024 campaign where he piled up 567 runs at 40.50. His inconsistency this year has coincided with SRH’s struggles — the team sits near the bottom of the table and is in desperate need of momentum.
Still, Head remains a vital cog in SRH’s top-order plans during chases, especially with his ability to provide explosive starts. The team is banking on that again today as they prepare to chase against a strong DC bowling lineup.
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Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sachin Baby, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga
Impact Subs: Travis Head, Harsh Dubey, Rahul Chahar, Wiaan Mulder, Mohammed Shami
Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan
Impact Subs: Ashutosh Sharma, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Kumar, Mohit Sharma
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