Heinrich Klaasen points fingers at Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan after defeat vs LSG in IPL 2026

Heinrich Klaasen slams SRH batters: The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had a difficult start to their TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026; they have won just a single match so far in the three matches they have played in the tournament. The Orange Army won against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 65 runs in their second match at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

In the very next game, they played Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and on a difficult wicket, they played well as the match went down to the wire, as LSG won the game in the second last ball of the match. Ishan Kishan’s side have been struggling with their batting, especially their top order, as the top order has not performed well.

Heinrich Klaasen slams Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma

Only Ishan Kishan scored a half-century in the first game, and neither of the openers, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have been able to score a fifty in the tournament so far. The majority of the runs for SRH have been scored by the middle order, especially Heinrich Klaasen. The South Africa batter is currently sitting in the second position of the Orange Cap list.

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Heinrich Klaasen, after the loss against LSG, came out bluntly against his own teammates. The Proteas cricketer called out his teammates after the franchise's second defeat in three IPL 2026 matches. Aiming the batters after SRH scored only 156-9 in 20 overs against the LSG, the cricketer claimed that the squad failed to execute its plan with the bat.

We simply did not execute- Klaasen

Heinrich Klaasen said, “The rest of the group is super experienced, especially our pace department. The wickets have been good in the two games where we struggled, we simply did not execute with the bat like we wanted to.”

The 34-year-old cricketer also took a dig at their bowlers, after the team failed to defend a 200-plus total in the opening match of the IPL 2026 season against the RCB. While speaking in the JioStar Press Room, Klaasen said that while the bowlers have struggled to defend totals, and SRH’s batting has also been dismal this season.

That is a big loss- Heinrich Klaasen on absence of Pat Cummins

Klaasen added “It is easy to say our bowlers lack experience or are under the pump, but in the two games we lost, the batters left about 20 to 30 runs on the board. When we played KKR, we put enough runs on the board and that is our job.”

“We need to reach that 220 or 230 mark, as that is why we set up the team the way we did, to give our bowlers a proper chance of defending.”

Heinrich Klaasen also gave an update on Pat Cummins and his importance to the team. He said “I think we have messed up about 40 runs over the last three games, so there is still a lot of work for our batters to do. Obviously, if you miss a player like Pat Cummins in any team or any format, that is a big loss.”

Also Read: "Losing Rs 2,400 crores": Lalit Modi slams BCCI over IPL 2026 structure