Pat Cummins shockingly called weak captain by Ex-India star after SRH’s IPL 2025 struggles

The Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad slipped to rock bottom in the IPL 2025 points table after suffering an embarrassing defeat of 80 runs against the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, April 3.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s heavy loss to Kolkata Knight Riders in the 15th game of the ongoing IPL 2025 has raised serious questions about Pat Cummins’ captaincy. Despite getting early breakthroughs, Sunrisers Hyderabad allowed KKR to bounce back and pile up 200 runs, which proved far too much for them to chase.

Pat Cummins’ captaincy under fire after Sunrisers Hyderabad's crushing loss to KKR

Their batting collapsed for just 120, but one of the major concerns was the use of bowlers. Young Zeeshan Ansari, who started well, didn’t get his full quota of overs while Kamindu Mendis was handed just one over, even though he managed to pick up a wicket against the KKR.

Read Also: MS Dhoni reappointed CSK captain in IPL 2025 as Ruturaj Gaikwad gets injured

Analyzing SRH’s crushing loss to KKR in Kolkata, the former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif blamed Cummins for his team’s struggles in the ongoing IPL 2025. Kaif also noted that both Cummins and Mohammed Shami have failed to make an impact with the ball, and then they dropped Adam Zampa to make things worse for SRH against the KKR at Eden Gardens.

Pat Cummins' captaincy is looking weak to me: Mohammad Kaif

Mohammad Kaif said on Star Sports, “The batting is not working, and so is the case with bowling. You are also losing terribly. It's very difficult to come back from here. You will expect them to come with some plans because neither is Cummins able to bowl nor is Shami picking up wickets.

Kaif added, “They don't have spinners either. (Adam) Zampa didn't play in this match. They went with Zeeshan, and he wasn't given all his overs. Mendis was given just one over. He picked up a wicket there but wasn't given any more overs. Cummins' captaincy is also looking weak to me.”

Mohammad Kaif also feels that Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batters are struggling to live up to the hype they created last season, saying the pressure of high expectations is affecting their performances, especially when chasing big totals.

Read Also: Cricket Canada breaks silence on Nicholas Kirton’s shocking arrest

They are stuck badly, the road ahead is tough for SRH: Mohammad Kaif

Kaif pointed out that teams have figured out specific plans to keep players like Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma in check. He noted that the bowlers are now using slower deliveries and short balls to limit Abhishek’s impact, while Head is being tested with fuller deliveries.

The commentator also feels Sunrisers Hyderabad needs to quickly regroup and come up with better strategies, as both their bowling and batting are struggling to deliver in the ongoing tournament. He predicted that things would be tough for Hyderabad as the tournament progressed, so they needed a solid strategy to come out of this situation.

Kaid signed off by saying, “I believe they are under pressure because of what they did last year. When you are under the spotlight that Hyderabad would score 300 or 250 this time, it's very difficult to repeat it under that pressure. They are stuck badly. Both the bowling and batting are out of form. The road ahead is tough.”