Harbhajan Singh takes brutal dig at Pat Cummins & Sunrisers Hyderabad over Maldives retreat

Sunrisers Hyderabad's slim chances of qualifying for the playoffs in IPL 2025 took a huge blow on Friday (May 3) after they suffered a crushing 38-run loss at the hands of Gujarat Titans. The defeat has all but ended their chances of progressing ahead of the league stage this season.

The Pat Cummins-led side needs nothing less than a miracle to make it to the last four. Against the Gujarat Titans, they were once again outplayed in all departments. Batting first, the Titans posted a big total of 224/6 in the allotted 20 overs.

In reply, the Sunrisers hardly looked in contention to chase down the total. Barring opener Abhishek Sharma (74), no other batsmen from the team managed to reach the 30-run mark. In the end, the Hyderabad-based outfit finished its innings on 186/6.

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It was the seventh defeat in 10 games for Sunrisers Hyderabad this season. They are currently languishing at the ninth spot in the points table.

Harbhajan Singh slams Sunrisers Hyderabad:

With Sunrisers Hyderabad failing to impress this season, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has lashed out at the franchises. The former cricketer-turned-commentator also took a dig at the franchise for its week-long retreat in the Maldives.

The vacation, however, did not change the team's fortunes as it suffered yet another loss. The performance against the Gujarat Titans was subpar as the players failed to impress. Apart from the batting and bowling, the fielding was also a big area of concern for the team against the Titans. And as the Sunrisers Hyderabad players struggled on the field, the commentators could not stop themselves from taking shots at them.

"It looks like SRH are here physically in Ahmedabad, but mentally they are still in Maldives," joked Deep Dasgupta after an early error made by a fielder. "We were talking about ordinary bowling, but the fielding has been quite ordinary too."

Harbhajan Singh soon joined the criticism as well, saying: "This ball should have been stopped. The fielder had dived, but not as good as he would have done in Maldives. They must have jumped and dived around a lot in swimming pools there, but cannot see that on the ground here."

Sunrisers Hyderabad now need to win all of their remaining games to stay in playoffs race. Even if they win all the games, they will have to depend on other results for a passage to the playoffs.