Sunrisers Hyderabad (Image: TOI)

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has cast serious doubts on Sunrisers Hyderabad’s chances in IPL 2026, saying that despite their explosive batting lineup, they are “not serious title contenders.”Speaking on JioHotstar, Uthappa acknowledged SRH’s aggressive approach with the bat but stressed that they cannot win the championship alone.Uthappa said, “SRH’s aggressive batting is entertaining to watch. But batting like this will not help them win the IPL. Their bowling is a bit weak. It is the bowlers who win you the trophy.”Uthappa suggested that SRH’s bowling is a matter of concern and the bowlers do not need to bowl too much pace on the ‘flat wickets’ of Hyderabad.“In Hyderabad, where they play seven matches, the pitch is heaven for batting. It is a super belter wicket. Even someone like Mohammed Shami can’t attack on those flat wickets. You need a bowler like Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He is a very clever guy. He swings the ball, changes the pace, bowls yorkers. At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, you don’t want to put too much pace on the ball because the ball doesn’t seam much. I don’t think SRH will have the ball. “The bowling unit is fine. Now if the top order is not active then their aggressive batting can cause instability.”

Captaincy setback raises concerns

SRH suffered a major blow before the season when their captain, pat cumminsWas out of the first few matches due to injury. Ishan Kishan Will lead the franchise in his absence. Uthappa also stressed that SRH’s bowling has failed to defend whenever their batsmen have failed to score big.“We saw what happened last season. Plus.” Abhishek SharmaApart from Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen, no batsman could progress. When the top order failed, the bowlers were not able to defend the total. So I would not consider SRH to be serious title contenders this season,” Uthappa concluded.

SRH squad for IPL 2026 season:

Salil Arora, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Ravichandran Smaran, Aniket Verma, Abhishek Sharma, Brydon Carse, Harsh Dubey, Liam Livingstone, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins, Amit Kumar, Cranes Phuletra, Prafulla Hinge, Ishan Malinga, Harshal Patel, Saqib Hussain, Shivang Kumar, Omkar Tarmale, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari.