It pains my heart, but I feel this season is gone for SRH: Aakash Chopra

Sunrisers-Hyderabad. (Photo Source: IPL)

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) hopes of making the playoffs have been quashed after they suffered a four-wicket defeat against the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, April 17.

The 2016 champions were restricted to 162/5 in their 20 overs after Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field first. The home side emerged victorious with 11 balls to spare as SRH suffered their fifth defeat in seven games in IPL 2025.

"It pains my heart, but I feel this season is gone for them. This match was extremely important. They will host MI after this, and then they have a match against CSK. They may win a few, but now I feel this team has gone far away from qualification. At times, just the one match takes you far away, and I think Hyderabad are unlikely to qualify," Chopra said while speaking on his official YouTube channel.

The cricketer-turned-expert opined that SRH have not bowled well this season and the likes of Nitish Kumar Reddy and have not turned up with the bat.

"It's sad as they were playing well. They got two or three pitches that didn't suit them. They are not bowling well in any case. In batting also, Nitish Kumar Reddy hasn't really arrived yet. Ishan Kishan scored a hundred in the first match, but nothing after that. The team underperformed a little this time. It's not been a good story," he observed.

After a breakout performance in IPL 2024, Nitish has scored 131 runs from six innings at an average of 21.83 and a strike rate of 113.92 in the ongoing season. Meanwhile, Kishan has only scored 32 runs in six innings since the 106 not out he smashed in SRH's opening fixture against Rajasthan Royals.

The pitch that was prepared was totally beyond my understanding: Aakash Chopra

Chopra wondered whether SRH will always struggle on slightly sluggish pitches, like the one at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.

"Mumbai won the toss and bowled, and the pitch that was prepared was totally beyond my understanding. Will Hyderabad always get stuck if they are made to play on such a pitch? Remember, they played at home against Gujarat on a 160-run pitch, and they couldn't bat," he said.

The 47-year-old pointed out that Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who are usually two free-flowing batters, could not find the middle of the bat consistently, even after spending quite a bit of time at the crease. They added 59 runs in 7.3 overs for the first wicket.

"This time, both openers didn't get out as well, they had a 50-run opening partnership, but they had never played slower than this. They could have gotten out two or three times, catches were dropped, and a guy's (Karn Sharma) webbing got torn, but the bat was not striking the ball. It was an extremely sluggish pitch at the Wankhede. Something that nobody anticipated. Hyderabad's weakness when the ball gets stuck a little came to the fore, and that is a problem," he noted.