Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026: Big Hitting, Another Early Exit
Where They Came From
Sunrisers Hyderabad joined the IPL in 2013, taking the place of the Deccan Chargers. For years they were known more for their bowlers than their batters. David Warner led them to the 2016 title, which is still their only trophy. They lost the 2018 final to Chennai and the 2024 final to Kolkata, where Pat Cummins’ side played an all-out attacking brand of cricket. That approach carried straight into 2026.
Captains and Coaching
Daniel Vettori stayed on as head coach after the December 2025 auction. Ishan Kishan captained the first seven matches of the season, and Cummins took over from there and stayed in charge through the playoffs.
A Shaky Start, Then a Surge
SRH lost their opener to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and went down to Lucknow early on, but they soon started winning, and by big margins. They beat Kolkata by 65 runs, Rajasthan by 57 and Delhi by 47. At Wankhede they chased 244 against Mumbai Indians and won by six wickets, even though Ryan Rickelton had made an unbeaten 123 for the home side.
There was one ugly night. Gujarat Titans beat them by 82 runs in Ahmedabad, and SRH were bowled out for 86. They bounced back, finishing the league stage with nine wins and five defeats from 14 games.
Third Place by a Whisker
Those nine wins matched Bengaluru and Gujarat, but SRH had the weakest net run rate of the three. On the last day they needed to beat RCB by roughly 90 runs to sneak into the top two. They scored 255/4 at home, with Abhishek Sharma hitting 56 off 22 balls, and won by 55. It was a thumping result, but not enough, so they landed in the Eliminator instead of Qualifier 1.
The Players Who Mattered
Heinrich Klaasen scored 624 runs, the most for the team. Eshan Malinga, a young quick bowler, took 20 wickets. Abhishek and Travis Head gave the innings its usual fast starts, and Kishan and Nitish Kumar Reddy chipped in with useful runs through the middle.
The Eliminator
On 27 May in New Chandigarh, Cummins won the toss and chose to bowl. It went badly. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit 97 off 29 balls for Rajasthan Royals, who finished on 243/8. Jofra Archer then took out Abhishek for a duck in the second over, and he also dismissed Kishan and Head. SRH were all out for 196, 47 runs short, and the season was over.
What It Adds Up To
SRH made the playoffs again and produced some of the most entertaining batting of the tournament. The flip side is that their top order tends to fall apart when the pressure is highest, and the Eliminator was a clear example. Gujarat beat Rajasthan in Qualifier 2 and then lost the final to Bengaluru, who won their second straight title.
About the Author
