Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has slammed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for their disappointing batting collapse against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL 2026 Eliminator in New Chandigarh on Wednesday, May 27.
Ashwin was frustrated with the way Sunrisers Hyderabad batters kept throwing away their wickets while chasing a massive target of 244 runs against Rajasthan Royals. The former Indian all-rounder even suggested that the SRH team management may now have to seriously think about Travis Head’s future after his average performances this season. Head managed 410 runs at a strike rate of 170.
Ishan Kishan and Travis Head’s costly mistake cost Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 Qualifier 2 berth
Sunrisers Hyderabad actually started the tough chase of 244 runs in attacking style, but they lost the momentum once Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger started destroying the top order with fiery pace bowling. Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a duck in the very first over by Archer.
And then, Ishan Kishan, who smashed 33 off just 11 balls, lost his wicket while playing an unnecessary attacking shot. Smaran Ravichandran also failed to make an impact, while Travis Head once again disappointed in a big match.
The Australian opener tried to attack Archer by moving outside the leg stump, but completely missed the fast delivery and got bowled for 17 runs. That wicket became one of the biggest turning points of the IPL 2026 Eliminator in New Chandigarh.
SRH slipped to 57/4 in the powerplay, and that collapse didn't help them at all, as they eventually bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs with Rajasthan Royals progressing to the IPL 2026 Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Titans.
Ravichandran Ashwin blasts Sunrisers Hyderabad for reckless batting after Eliminator disaster
After SRH’s crushing defeat, Ravichandran Ashwin said that Pat Cummins’ team lost the match because of poor game awareness and careless batting in such a high-pressure knockout clash. He felt the team was actually in a strong position early in the chase, but the batters made things difficult for themselves by playing reckless shots against the strong RR attack.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel 'Ash Ki baat': “I think SRH could have won this match quite easily. When they had already scored around 32-34 runs in the first two overs and nearly 50 in the first three overs, Ishan Kishan’s shot was completely unnecessary.”
The former spinner slammed the way Ishan and Head lost their wickets. He felt they should have handled the pressure better instead of gifting away their wickets.
Read Also: Irfan Pathan slams Travis Head’s game awareness against RR’s perfect trap in IPL 2026 Eliminator
Ashwin added, “Ishan threw his wicket away. There was absolutely no meaning to playing such a shot in such a big match. It was a very poor shot. Travis Head has not performed at all this season. The management definitely needs to think about Travis Head. He should have played more responsibly. There was no point in getting out by playing such a poor shot.”
Ashwin says SRH threw away winning chance with poor game awareness vs RR
The cricket pundit also said SRH were still alive in the game when Nitish Kumar Reddy was batting aggressively in the middle overs against Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator.
Nitish played a fighting knock of 38 runs, while Salil Arora added 35, but they had no support from the other end, resulting in the team facing crushing defeat against RR.
Ashwin signed off by saying, “SRH was still in the match until the 14th over when Nitish Kumar Reddy was batting. But if you keep losing so many wickets, you can never chase such a huge total. If SRH had shown a little more game awareness and played with calmer minds, they could have won this match comfortably. Honestly, it was a very poor batting performance from the SRH team.”
