Rayudu said that SRH’s bowling is a bigger problem than their batting after the team’s fourth straight loss of the season against the Gujarat Titans.
This occurs while SRH is still having trouble in the current tournament.
SRH’s middle overs bowling under scrutiny
SRH’s need to pick wickets in the middle overs, which could alter their fortunes, was emphasized by Rayudu. ESPNcricinfo reports that the Orange Army have taken just 12 wickets at an average of 41.33 in IPL 2025’s Overs 7 to 16. Their economy rate of 9.92 is the third-worst among all 10 teams.
A major area of concern for the struggling franchise is highlighted by this statistic.
Strategy critique
SRH’s defensive strategy is criticized by Rayudu. In a recent interview on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show, Rayudu said, “I don’t see SRH trying to take wickets. They are just about being defensive and trying to stop batsmen from scoring boundaries.”
“You don’t win the IPL with mediocre middle-overs bowling,” he continued. You need some really good middle-overs bowlers to pick up those wickets.”
These comments highlight his criticism of SRH’s current approach on the field.
Batting issues
Batting woes: SRH’s aggressive strategy backfires
Ahead of IPL 2025, many had predicted that SRH would be the first team to score over 300 runs in a match.
They got off to a flying start with a score of 286/6 against Rajasthan Royals in their IPL 2025 opener.
However, this ultra-aggressive strategy has failed as they have since posted lower scores (190/9 vs LSG, 163 vs DC, 120 vs KKR, and 152/8 vs GT).
Partnership woes
Head and Sharma’s performance as the opening partnership Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, two prominent openers, have failed to give SRH an explosive start. Although Head scored 67 and 47 in two matches, Abhishek has only been able to score a total of 51 runs from five innings.
The team’s best opening partnership in their last four games has been a paltry 15 runs.
The struggling franchise has yet another issue with this lack of strong beginnings.
Advice
Rayudu offers advice to Abhishek Sharma
Rayudu doesn’t consider Abhishek’s poor form to be a big deal. He said, “I think he just needs a shift in his mindset.”
In order for Sharma to regain his rhythm, Rayudu advised him to concentrate on running singles and hitting boundaries along the ground. He thinks once Sharma gets into his groove, the big shots will come naturally as he has trained for them.