Cheteshwar Pujara attacks Pat Cummins and SRH for blind slogging; brutally hammers their theory
Published - 31 Mar 2025, 12:29 PM | Updated - 31 Mar 2025, 11:36 PM
Table of Contents
India's veteran cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara has questioned the aggressive approach of Sunrisers Hyderabad, which has not gone down well for them this season. While speaking as a cricket expert, Cheteshwar Pujara asked SRH to be smart enough and play accordingly.
SRH have now lost two games in a row, and their batting has failed to put up reasonable totals in both of these games. They have lost wickets in clusters in an attempt to play aggressive and high-risk shots.
After two successive defeats, their attacking approach has come under scrutiny as questions have been raised over their adaptability to different match situations. It remains to be seen whether they continue with this approach in the upcoming matches as well.
Also read: MS Dhoni Injured? To Sit Out Of IPL 2025? Stephen Fleming Drops Bombshell
Cheteshwar Pujara on SRH's decision to bat first
While speaking during ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show, Cheteshwar Pujara questioned Pat Cummins' decision to bat first despite knowing that the afternoon conditions won't be ideal to bat because of the pitch being on the slower side.
"Firstly, I was really surprised they chose to bat first (against DC). When you're playing an afternoon game, you know that the pitch will be slightly on the slow side, that's when you normally prefer to bowl, and that's an ideal time to bowl, not an ideal time to bat. I thought they should have bowled first," noted Pujara.
SRH have been relying on the approach of putting big runs on the board after batting first and then putting the opposition under scoreboard pressure in the second innings. It has been their approach since the last season when they started batting with an attacking approach.
Cheteshwar Pujara questions SRH's aggressive approach
Further speaking in the same video, Cheteshwar Pujara questioned SRH's success rate with this kind of batting approach. He asked the team to show more consistency and felt that the approach was too risky, and it might fail in a big game.
"Talking about their batting, I think they go too hard and they were not smart enough today. What is your success then? If you are just winning two out of 10, then it doesn't make sense. You need to win more games," Pujara said.
"You need to show that consistency again and again. Last season we saw that they played brilliantly throughout the league phase but what if one game goes wrong for you in the knockouts, then you're not able you are not able to have a plan," he reckoned.
SRH's aggressive approach fails against DC
Sunrisers have one of the most destructive batting line-ups of the tournament, which relies on playing with an aggressive approach. However, they lost early wickets against Delhi Capitals, with Mitchell Starc taking early wickets.
That didn't change their aggressive approach as they kept going after the bowlers. This led to the fall of wickets at regular intervals, and they were finally bowled out for just 163 in 18.4 overs.
Youngster Aniket Verma top-scored for them with 74 off 41 balls. He struck 5 fours and 6 sixes during his knock. Heinrich Klaasen smashed 32 off 19 balls while Travis Head played in his usual attacking style but was dismissed for 22 off 12 deliveries.
