Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins stood by his players despite a heavy 82-run loss to the Gujarat Titans during their IPL 2026 encounter on Monday. Chasing a 169-run target in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad’s batting lineup crumbled, resulting in the team being bowled out for only 86 runs in 14.5 overs. This performance represented one of the franchise’s most significant batting failures of the season as the Gujarat pace attack systematically dismantled the SRH order.
Match Summary and Batting Collapse
The chase for SRH faltered almost immediately when Mohammed Siraj removed Travis Head for a duck during the first over. The situation worsened as Kagiso Rabada dismissed both Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, leaving the team struggling at 23/3. The middle order offered little resistance against Jason Holder and Prasidh Krishna, who claimed the crucial wicket of Heinrich Klaasen. While Cummins provided a small amount of resistance with a late boundary and a six, Rashid Khan secured the final wicket to confirm Gujarat’s dominant win.
Pat Cummins on the Performance
After the match, Cummins credited the Gujarat bowlers for their execution on a challenging surface. He noted:
“I feel they bowled really well in that second innings. I was pretty happy with when we walked off at the start, but yeah, pretty tricky wicket. I think they made the most of it, their bowlers, they bowled really well. So, yeah, maybe try and look at ways to get through that spell, but, you know, they deserve a bit of credit.”
The captain further analyzed the pitch conditions and how the opposition utilized them:
“Yeah, I mean, you always look at it. It looked like a pretty tough wicket once you kind of hit that back of the length and they didn’t really give us much to score. So, perhaps in our bowling innings, you kind of, you learn from that, you think maybe we could have held our lengths just a little bit longer.”
Despite the low score, Cummins expressed full confidence in his batting unit’s overall season form:
“Our batting order’s been fantastic. So I don’t think we need to read it too far into today. I think all four of our top four have over 400 runs. So, the guys are going really well. This happens in T20 cricket.”
Insights from Shubman Gill
Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill highlighted the importance of their bowling strategy and adaptability. Reflecting on the victory, he stated:
“Definitely, like you spoke at the toss. Teams batting first have done well, and it worked out for us pretty nicely. But I think we bowled very well. 170 on this kind of a wicket, we always knew it’s going to be tricky. If we bowl well, we’ll always be in the game.”
Regarding their target and batting performance, Gill added:
“We spoke about, if we get anywhere close to 160 to 170, I think it’s gonna be.. It won’t be easy for them, especially with our bowling attack. So that was the chat in the middle. But also, I think the way Sai (Sudharsan) and Washi (Sundar) batted, getting us close to 170 at one point, it looked difficult to reach there. And also, the way we bowled in the powerplay, we have been bowling pretty well in the powerplay. So, kudos to both of our bowlers.”
On the team’s philosophy and the impact of Jason Holder, Gill concluded:
“Honestly, it’s all about, still being consistent, still trying to be as ruthless as we can. And, you know, we play the kind of cricket, we are not the kind of a team that play a particular style or brand of cricket. We want to be the team that sees the wicket, assesses the condition. If it’s a batting first, 240 wicket, go for it. But it’s also important to assess that the wicket is not that easy to get those 170 to 180 runs that’s better than getting 140 to 150. (Addition of Holder) Yeah, definitely. He’s such an experienced campaigner and the kind of length he’s been hitting and he’s been very relentless for us, bowling almost in every game, four overs on the trot. Not easy in this weather, but he’s doing a terrific job for us.”
