Revealed: Why is Harshal Patel not playing today's match for SRH against GT in IPL 2025?

In a huge blow for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the star 34-year-old right-arm medium pacer Harshal Patel has been ruled out of the 19th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday, April 6.

The match between the Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans is currently underway at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad.

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Harshal Patel ruled out of the SRH vs GT clash due to illness.

Patel was acquired by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for INR 8 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. Notably, the pacer had set his base price as INR 2 crore, and after a bidding war with Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings, SRH secured his services at the auction.

Harshal Patel has been a starter in the Sunrisers Hyderabad playing XI but missed out on the match against the Gujarat Titans due to illness. This development was confirmed by the SRH skipper Pat Cummins after he lost the toss.

Harshal Patel misses as he is ill - Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins also revealed that they have added Jaydev Unadkat to the playing XI as a replacement for Harshal Patel.

"Harshal Patel misses as he is ill, Jaydev Unadkat comes in," the Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins said.

In the four matches that Harshal Patel played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, he registered bowling figures of 1/43, 0/17, 1/28, and 2/34. He also did a terrific job on the field and grabbed a couple of sensational catches.

Do SRH need to temper down the aggressive approach?

The explosive batting unit of the Sunrisers Hyderabad has failed in back-to-back matches while trying to play an ultra-aggressive brand of cricket.

In a discussion on ESPNcricinfo ahead of the SRH vs GT clash, the former cricketer Mark Boucher was asked if the Pat Cummins-led side should think about toning down their aggressive approach.

Replying to this, he said that the batting unit of the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the coaches need to have sensitive conversations regarding this matter and need to approach things positively. He elaborated:

"They've had a very good record there and they know how to play in those conditions. So it needs to be a very sensitive conversation that I think that your batting coach and your coach will have towards their batters. I think, you know, if you have a look at how the IPL is working, we've seen some good batsmanship around in certain conditions.

"But I would still look at the way that they would approach it is to go out there, say, listen, you know, fresh conditions. We don't know how the wicket's going to play. Rely on the two openers to make a call on whether they feel it's a good deck. If they make that call, then you've got to back them as a coaching staff to go out there and play the way that they know has been very successful for them in Hyderabad. So I would still, you know, have those conversations."

"Sometimes you've just got to lay a seed in these batter's heads. And I think that once you have those conversations, make them aware of the, maybe the, be a little bit critical about the way that they've gone about things and their failures. Without being too negative about it, I think that that will put them in a better space to make better and smarter decisions while they're out there."