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After the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auctions, every pundit questioned Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) strategy. They had a decent purse but spent 65 per cent of it at just Liam Livingstone despite knowing that their bowling needed some huge names. They lacked a prominent spinner, at least a couple of world-class quicks, after trading Mohammed Shami. By the end of the IPL 2026, the only thing that SRH would probably take home is their exceptional bowling unit that became their unlikely hero.
Kudos to SRH for showing some unreal faith on their uncapped bowling arsenal but a shoutout to the actual bowlers who turned up and saved SRH’s campaign after the team lost three of their first four games. Yet, the Orange Army finished with the joint-most points (18) in the league alongside RCB and GT. However, an inferior Net Run Rate (NRR) meant they finished third and not in the top two. That perhaps cost them an early exit amongst the qualified teams.
What went right for SRH at IPL 2026?
Fans might not remember this IPL season for SRH in the future, but 2026 will go down as one of the most important campaigns for the franchise. Not just because their batting continued with their attacking approach but because SRH found new gems. Under Varun Aaron’s tutelage, Sunrisers have given new bowlers to the Indian cricket circuit. The scouting system was on point, and the bowlers delivered.
Sakib Hussain, Shivang Kumar for the future
While Praful Hinge’s exceptional debut will not be forgotten, the biggest positive was certainly Sakib Hussan. The former KKR pacer never got a chance previously but stood out brilliantly with his skills that will take him ahead in the shortest format. He finished with 15 wickets and showed that he has a great variety of yorkers in him. Hinge is a different bowler who gets extra bounce due to his height.
Eshan Malinga, 25, ended up as the highest wicket-taker for the team, and it was certainly his coming-of-age season. He basically bowled in every phase of the game. Not just pacers, SRH unleashed an unorthodox spinner in Shivang Kumar as well, who bowls left-arm wrist-spin. He may not have gotten a bucketload of wickets, but Shivang is definitely one of the future.
Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan best-ever seasons
‘Travishek’ has become synonymous with SRH. Yet, the Abhishek Sharma-Travis Head duo wasn’t the one that stood out this year. Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen dished out their career-best campaigns. Quite literally. They won multiple games for Hyderabad.
Coming off a superb T20 World Cup 2026, Kishan continued his dynamism. He is as aggressive as he has ever been. Captaincy didn’t bog him down. He played some exceptional knocks, inlcuding the one where he silenced the Chepauk crowd. After the Eliminator, as many as six batters have completed 600 runs this season, and Kishan’s SR of 182.42 is the second-best after the anomaly that is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
As for Klaasen, what he did was simply incredible. After three successive seasons of 400+ runs, the South African maestro dished out an exceptional turnaround. He basically hammered 624, the most for SRH. In fact, it is also the most runs by a non-opening overseas batter in an IPL season after AB de Villiers’ 687 runs in IPL 2016.
Sunrisers Hyderabad played as a team
Unlike teams reliant on individual superstars, SRH achieved success through impact across their entire starting eleven, and also the impact sub. The main thing that when the management got to know that their Plan A isn’t working, they quickly shifted, keeping egos aside. Despite no Pat Cummins initially, SRH showed immense courage.
Their mid-season adjustments sparked a five-match winning streak that completely revived their campaign. Crucially, this streak produced five different Players of the Match. Their top-four batting lineup fired consistently throughout the season, with all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy earning special praise as he was a better bowler this time around.
Proud 
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SRH also rewrote cricket record books by posting nine 200-plus totals in a single IPL season, the most by any team in history.
What went wrong for SRH at IPL 2026?
Some simpler mistakes, some unlucky moments and some questionable decisions ultimately led to SRH’s exit. As mentioned above, SRH had an ordinary bowling attack on paper right from the start. Pat Cummins missed the first seven games, that dented their bowling furthermore. With lack of experience, SRH had to play the likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel and David Payne. All the pacers, well beyond their prime, had awful outings as SRH lost three of their first four games.
That, perhaps, cost them points. One more point would’ve helped the team qualify as one of the top two teams and I didn’t have to write their review just yet. Moreover, some of the margin of results put their NRR in a limbo too. In their away match in Ahmedabad, SRH had to chase 169. But instead of building a strategic chase, SRH got bundled out for 86 runs, costing their NRR to drop from +0.093 to -0.406.
Rating: 8/10
SRH results at IPL 2026
SRH finished the league phase tied on points at the top but missed out on Qualifier 1 due to Net Run Rate (NRR).
| League Stage | 14 | 9 | 5 | 18 | +0.524 | 3rd |
| Playoffs (Eliminator) | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | — | Knocked Out |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Mar 28 | Lost by 6 wickets | -2.907 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | Apr 02 | Won by 65 runs | +3.376 |
| Lucknow Super Giants | Apr 05 | Lost by 5 wickets | -0.194 |
| Punjab Kings | Apr 11 | Lost by 6 wickets | -0.299 |
| Rajasthan Royals | Apr 13 | Won by 57 runs | +0.600 |
| Chennai Super Kings | Apr 18 | Won by 10 runs | -0.010 |
| Delhi Capitals | Apr 21 | Won by 47 runs | +0.254 |
| Rajasthan Royals | Apr 25 | Won by 5 wickets | -0.005 |
| Mumbai Indians | Apr 29 | Won by 6 wickets | +0.017 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | May 03 | Lost by 7 wickets | -0.188 |
| Punjab Kings | May 06 | Won by 33 runs | +0.093 |
| Gujarat Titans | May 12 | Lost by 82 runs | -0.406 |
| Chennai Super Kings | May 18 | Won by 5 wickets | +0.019 |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | May 22 | Won by 55 runs | +0.174 |
| Rajasthan Royals | May 27 | Lost by 47 runs | — |
SRH’s highest run-getters at IPL 2026
| Heinrich Klaasen | 15 | 624 | 69 | 48.00 | 160.00 | 6 | 48 | 31 |
| Ishan Kishan | 15 | 602 | 91 | 40.13 | 182.42 | 6 | 60 | 32 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 15 | 563 | 135* | 40.21 | 204.72 | 4 | 50 | 43 |
| Travis Head | 15 | 410 | 76 | 27.33 | 170.12 | 2 | 46 | 23 |
| Nitish Kumar Reddy | 14 | 302 | 56 | 30.20 | 171.59 | 1 | 19 | 21 |
SRH’s highest wicket-takers at IPL 2026
| Eshan Malinga | 15 | 20 | 4/32 | 25.35 | 9.33 | 16.3 |
| Sakib Hussain | 11 | 15 | 4/24 | 26.46 | 9.45 | 16.8 |
| Praful Hinge | 7 | 14 | 4/34 | 21.78 | 11.73 | 11.1 |
| Shivang Kumar | 13 | 9 | 3/33 | 41.66 | 9.61 | 26.0 |
| Pat Cummins | 8 | 8 | 3/28 | 38.37 | 9.59 | 24.0 |
| Harsh Dubey | 8 | 8 | 3/12 | 28.50 | 10.36 | 16.5 |
| Nitish Reddy | 14 | 8 | 2/17 | 40.37 | 10.41 | 23.2 |
The post Sunrisers Hyderabad’s IPL 2026 season review: Positives to take home for Pat Cummins-led side appeared first on Inside Sport India.
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