New Delhi: Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn has criticised the bowling approach of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their six-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2026, saying the side lacked clear plans in their bowling, which led to them losing despite posting a strong total of 201/9 on board.
At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB made 76 runs in the power-play phase of the chase, with Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel and Eshan Malinga leaking runs. With no Pat Cummins, Nitish Kumar Reddy took the new ball, but didn’t complete his full quota of overs.
“SRH skipper Ishan Kishan batted beautifully. His knock of 80 runs was beautiful to watch. I felt he controlled the innings well and allowed SRH to maintain their aggressive batting intent in the first half. But in the second half, there were literally no plans being implemented by SRH’s bowlers.
“It is difficult to defend high targets with the kind of bowling attack they have. I was a bit surprised that Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled only those two overs in the Powerplay and never got the chance to bowl after that. So, there are quite a few discussions that need to happen between the SRH team management and the Captain on how best to use their resources,” said Steyn on JioStar.
SRH’s next game is against three-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 2 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Steyn, who worked as SRH’s bowling coach from 2021 to 2024, after having earlier played for them in the competition, further stressed the side’s aggressive batting template will only succeed if bowlers can complement it with wicket-taking spells, especially on flat tracks at home in Hyderabad.
“The kind of aggressive cricket they play, even in Hyderabad, the pitch will be a flat deck. So, they need their bowlers to take wickets and put pressure on the opposition batters.
“Otherwise, it will be a massive challenge defending a score of 200-plus runs for this SRH side with the kind of bowlers they have. They need to be smarter. They have to bowl differently and stick to a plan, which unfortunately against RCB they could not,” he added.
(IANS)
