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Former CSK and MI icon Ambati Rayudu backed the Sunrisers Hyderabad over the Rajasthan Royals to win the Eliminator of IPL 2026.
The Eliminator is contested between the team that finished third on the points table and the one that finished fourth. In IPL 2026, SRH finished third with 18 points while RR finished fourth with 16.
IPL 2026's Eliminator will be played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur (New Chandigarh) on May 27. The IPL campaign of the loser of this clash will come to an end, while the winner will move on to Qualifier 2.
SRH in IPL 2026
The Sunrisers Hyderabad would consider themselves slightly unfortunate for finishing third despite accumulating 18 points on the IPL 2026 points table.
The teams that have finished in the top two - the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Gujarat Titans - also have 18 points each. But of these three teams, SRH has the worst net run rate, and RCB the best.
For the first 7 matches of their season, they did not have the luxury of fielding regular skipper Pat Cummins. So, they turned to Ishan Kishan and asked him to lead.
Of their first four matches, SRH lost three, but bounced back to win five in a row. Of these five matches, Kishan led in three, and Cummins led in two. After two losses in their next three games, the team was in a state of bother, but Cummins led the team to wins in their last two games.
The batting core of Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Heinrich Klaasen has done its job smoothly, while the inexperienced pacers like Sakib Hussain and Eshan Malinga have stepped up to help Cummins with the ball. Nitish Kumar Reddy has been among the best all-rounders of this season.
"New Chandigarh will suit SRH more" - Ambati Rayudu
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Rayudu was asked his opinion on which team were the favourite in New Chandigarh on May 27. Rayudu predicted SRH to win the match and move on to Qualifier 2 in the same stadium on May 29.
He said that the ground was more suited for the Sunrisers' pacers than RR's, and the boundary dimensions would also be a big help for the 2016 Champions.
"I think the Sunrisers are a very, very strong side. I don't think it will be an easy game for RR. They need to really play out of their skins to beat the Sunrisers. Especially at New Chandigarh, where the side boundaries are really big. And it will suit the Sunrisers' bowlers and their style of bowling more than what RR posses at the moment," Rayudu said.
SRH vs RR in IPL 2026
Heading into the Eliminator, history is technically on the Sunrisers' side. The Sunrisers Hyderabad have gotten the better of RR in both matches that the two teams have played against each other.
In the first match, in Hyderabad on April 13, Ishan Kishan walked in to bat on the second ball of the match and smashed 91 runs from just 44 balls. His innings was a major contributor to SRH making 216.
Debutant pacer Praful Hinge struck thrice in the first over to fully derail RR. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi fell for a first-ball duck, while Dhruv Jurel and Lhuan-dre Pretorius went next.
Hinge struck once more in the powerplay to have RR tottering at 9/5. Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira put up a record partnership of 118, but the other debutant, Sakib Hussain, cleaned up the tail with four wickets of his own.
In Jaipur on April 25, Sooryavanshi had his personal revenge, but RR did not get their revenge as a team. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi dispatched Hinge for four sixes in the very first over of the match en route to a 36-ball 100.
Dhruv Jurel also made a 30-ball 50, but none of the other RR batters could get going. SRH's chase of 228 went very smoothly. Abhishek Sharma made 57 from just 29 balls, while Kishan made 74 from 31 as the pair put up 132 in just 9 overs. From there, the job got that much easier as Reddy and Klaasen got SRH home with an over and a half to spare.
