Desperate SunRisers Hyderabad Aim To Press Reset Button Against Punjab Kings

Desperate to arrest a worrying slide, Sunrisers Hyderabad will be eager to effect a turnaround when they host a power-packed Punjab Kings in their next IPL engagement on Saturday. Last season's finalists, SRH began their 2025 campaign on a thunderous note, racking up a mammoth 286 to dismantle Rajasthan Royals by 44 runs. With an explosive batting line-up at their disposal, the 'Orange Army' seemed poised to become the first team to breach the 300-run mark but their ultra-aggressive approach has since backfired spectacularly.

In their last three matches, their attack-at-all-costs strategy with the bat yielded underwhelming totals of 163, 120, and 152 resulting in crushing defeats, and leaving them languishing at the bottom of the points table. They have worst Net-Run-Rate of -1.629 as of today.

With the bat, Sunrisers Hyderabad need far more from their big names like Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Heinrich Klaasen.

Head and Sharma, who played a crucial role in delivering explosive starts last season, have failed to find their rhythm this year. In fact, SRH's best opening stand so far is a paltry 15 Head's performance has tailed off dramatically, returning scores of 67, 47, 22, 4, and 8. Abhishek, too, has struggled for consistency, with a top score of just 24 across five innings.

Kishan, after his unbeaten ton in the opener, has looked a shadow of himself, while SRH's middle-order mainstay Klaasen is yet to set the stage on fire.

Yet, the team appears committed to sticking with their aggressive blueprint. Head coach Daniel Vettori stressed on the need for better game awareness rather than a shift in philosophy after their last defeat.

"I think we know the style is going to work, but we have to respect