Ravichandran Ashwin did not hold back after Sunrisers Hyderabad were knocked out of the IPL 2026 Eliminator by the Rajasthan Royals, losing by 47 runs. In his sharp assessment, the veteran spinner questioned Hyderabad’s batting approach under knockout pressure and even raised the possibility that the franchise may have to reconsider Travis Head’s role going forward.
Hyderabad entered the chase of 244 with plenty of firepower in the top order, but their innings unraveled during a brutal powerplay collapse. Rajasthan’s Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger struck early and repeatedly, leaving SRH reeling at 57/4 within the first five overs. Once that early momentum was taken away, the chase looked increasingly beyond recovery, no matter how hard Hyderabad tried to find rhythm after the damage was done.
Abhishek Sharma was the first to go, dismissed for a duck in Archer’s opening over. Then came a cameo from Ishan Kishan, who struck 33 off just 11 deliveries, but it ended at a crucial moment when Ashwin later pointed to the nature of the wicket as unnecessary in such a high-stakes game. Smaran Ravichandran also fell cheaply, and the pressure finally forced the biggest blow when Archer clean-bowled Travis Head for 17 off eight balls.
Even with some resistance later in the innings—Nitish Kumar Reddy making 38 off 20 and Salil Arora contributing 35 off 21—Hyderabad could not reverse the early pattern of losing wickets. They were bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs, falling short of the target despite flashes of intent.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, “Ash Ki baat,” Ashwin went straight to the heart of the issue, criticising SRH’s shot selection and their lack of game awareness in an eliminator. He argued that the match may not have slipped away as easily as it did if Hyderabad had played with more control when the asking rate was still manageable.
“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. He threw his wicket away,” Ashwin said, pinpointing the dismissal as a turning point.
He added that such a decision had no place in a match of this magnitude. “There was absolutely no meaning to playing such a shot in such a big match. It was a very poor shot,” he remarked. Ashwin then widened the critique beyond the single dismissal, suggesting that SRH’s broader planning around Head would need reconsideration.
Highlighting Head’s struggles this season, Ashwin suggested that the management should reassess how the player is being used. “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,” he said.
While Ashwin felt Hyderabad were not completely out of the contest while Nitish Kumar Reddy was still at the crease, the constant wicket losses meant the required chase never became realistic. “SRH were 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,” he explained.
Concluding his assessment, the spinner maintained that the outcome was largely shaped by how SRH handled pressure after the early collapse. “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,” Ashwin said.
