Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling coach James Franklin has backed the destructive batting forces to return to their explosive ways after back-to-back flop shows in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
The Sunrisers, who kicked off their campaign with a bang by clobbering the Rajasthan Royals, have lost their charm. Their manner of victory hinted towards a bright road ahead of them as the entire team sang in harmony. However, since trouncing the Royals, Hyderabad has lost its muse.
It all started when Lucknow Super Giants effortlessly gunned down their 191-run target. The losing streak extended following a bashing at the hands of the Delhi Capitals, which was topped up by the Kolkata Knight Riders, pummeling them to an 80-run defeat.
The Sunrisers’ melancholic run comes down to their stubborn attacking approach and ineffectiveness with the ball in the death overs. With the bat, SRH batters have stuck to dispatching the ball past the boundary rope from the first ball, irrespective of the situation.
Former cricketers have suggested that Hyderabad should take a slightly subtle route and spend time on the crease, analysing what the surface truly offers. Franklin exuded confidence in the misfiring Hyderabad stars and rooted for their return to business, just like they did in the previous edition.
“That hasn’t worked in the last two games. It can sometimes be the nature of the game we play and the way our batters want to play the game. It hasn’t been our best stuff in past games. We have confidence in our group to play the attacking brand that we have shown over the last year or so,” Franklin told reporters in the post-match press conference.
Apart from their adamant belligerent batting mentality, the lacklustre effort with the ball towards the death has left them exposed. The additional runs towards the end have allowed their opposition to turn their manageable totals into daunting ones.
Even against Kolkata, the Sunrisers bowlers combined to give away 78 runs in the last five overs of the first inning, allowing the hosts to muscle their way to 200/6 against the odds.
Franklin acknowledged that their execution in death is an area that needs to be reviewed. He advocated for the bowlers to find their rhythm, considering they would be raring to go for their next encounter against the Gujarat Titans on Sunday.
“65 runs off the last four overs probably reflect that we didn’t get it quite right. At the halfway stage, KKR were 84 or 85/2. If we’d managed the back 10 overs right, we probably could have kept them to 170-180, but we didn’t quite right. The execution wasn’t right,” he said.
“As a coach, sometimes you sit there and think, could we have done better? Could we have been technically a bit braver in some aspects? Those are conversations that we’ll have in the coming days before we go again on Sunday. It’s reflection; it is between myself and the players who were out there, who will look to come back better, especially with the execution in death overs,” he added.
