Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has cast serious doubts on Hyderabad Sunrisers’ chances of participating in IPL 2026, saying that despite their explosive batting line-up, they are “not a real title contender”. Speaking on JioHotstar, Uthappa acknowledged SRH’s aggressive approach with the bat but stressed that this approach alone cannot win the title.
“SRH’s aggressive batting is fun to watch. But such batting is not going to help them win the IPL. Their bowling is a bit weak. The bowlers are the ones who make you win the trophy,” Uthappa said.
Uthappa said SRH’s bowling was an issue and the bowlers could not bowl too fast on Hyderabad’s “flat wicket”.
“In Hyderabad, they are playing seven games and the pitch is a batting paradise. It’s a super-carrying wicket. Even someone like Mohammad Shami can’t penetrate those flat wickets. You need a bowler like Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He is a very smart guy. He swings the ball, changes the tempo and bowls the yorkers. At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, you don’t want to put too much pace on the ball because of the ball I think SRH There is no bowling unit at the moment to support the inconsistency their aggressive batting could cause if the top order doesn’t fire.”
Blow over captaincy heightens worries
SRH suffered a heavy blow before the season started with their captain Pat Cummins missing the first few games due to injury. In his absence, Ishan Kishan will lead the team. Uthappa also highlighted that SRH’s bowling was undefendable whenever the batsmen failed to score big runs.
“We saw what happened last season. Apart from Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaassen, no other batsman could step up. When the top order fails, the bowlers cannot defend the title. So I wouldn’t consider SRH a title contender this season,” Uthappa concluded.
advertise
SRH’s squad for IPL 2026 season:
Salil Arora, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Ravichandran Smaran, Aniket Verma, Abhishek Sharma, Brydon Carse, Harsh Dubey, Liam Livingstone, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins, Amit Kumar, Krains Fuletra, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga, Harshal Patel, Sakib Hussain, Shivang Kumar, Onkar Tarmale, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari.
