3 reasons why SRH were eliminated early in IPL 2023

The Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 34 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday, May 15.

As a result, GT maintained their lead in the IPL standings while SRH fell to ninth place in the points chart. The defeat also means SRH are officially not in the running for a playoffs spot in IPL 2023.

GT had a respectable score of 188/9 after opening the batting. Shubman Gill, who scored an impressive century of 101 runs off 58 balls, and Sai Sudarshan, who scored 47 runs off 36 balls, led the GT batting effort.

Around the 13–14-over mark, it looked as though GT would easily pass 220-230, but some excellent death bowling by SRH limited them to a score of around 190. Bhuvneshwar Kumar registered a five-wicket haul and once again demonstrated his class with an outstanding exhibition of fast bowling.

In response, SRH got off to a terrible start, scoring just 59 runs in the first nine overs. Their innings managed to end at 154/9 thanks to Heinrich Klassen's brilliant counterattacking half-century (64 runs off 44 balls) and Kumar's respectable effort (27 runs off 26 balls).

The best bowlers for GT were Mohammed Shami (4-0-21-4) and Mohit Sharma (4-0-28-4).

The defeat perfectly summed up SRH's IL 2023 campaign. They were ordinary in the field and inconsistent with the bat and the ball. On that note, let us take a look at three reasons why SRH failed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2023.

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#1 Poor form of SRH's overseas batters

Barring Heinrich Klassen, most overseas batters of SRH had a dismal season. Harry Brook was picked by SRH for a whopping ₹13.25 crore before IPL 2023.

However, barring a century against KKR, Brook did not make even a single score of substance for his side. In nine matches, he scored just 163 runs at an average of 20.38 and a strike rate of 121.64.

Captain Aiden Markram also struggled for form this season. In 11 matches so far, he has scored just 217 runs at an average of 21.70. The poor returns of both of these players with the bat have left an awful lot of work down the order for Heinrich Klassen to do alone.

To add to their misery, senior Indian batters like Rahul Tripathi and Mayank Agarwal also had a below-par season.

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#2 Lacklustre bowling by SRH's bowlers

Traditionally one of the strengths of SRH, their bowling this season has been rather ordinary. This is reflected in the Purple Cap leaderboard, as none of the SRH bowlers feature in the 'Top 10'.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is placed 12th that too majorly because of his five-wicket haul in SRH's recent defeat against GT. The bowlers failed to give the team regular breakthroughs and have also proven to be expensive too.

The SRH bowlers, namely Kumar (8.16), Marco Jansen (9.88), T. Natarajan (9.17), Umran Malik (10.35), and Fazalhaq Farooqi (8.77), have all conceded more than eight runs per over.

The lone standout bowler for SRH has been Mayank Markande who has picked up 12 wickets in 10 matches at an economy rate of 7.89.

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#3 Choking in games they should have won

SRH lost at least three games which they should have won comfortably. Their losses against Delhi Capitals (DC), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were all from positions of strength.

In the match against LSG at home, the visitors needed more than 90 runs in just seven overs. While SRH should have closed the game from there on, they did not. Captain Markram's decision to give the 16th over to part-time spinner Abhishek Sharma changed the game as he ended up conceding 31 runs. LSG won the game in the final over.

Against DC, also at home, SRH failed to chase the 145-run target despite having eight wickets in hand till the 12 over.

The match against KKR symbolized SRH's entire campaign. They needed just 38 runs off 30 balls with five wickets in hand. On most days, winning from such a position of strength is a mere formality for most sides. However, SRH batters, including Markram, failed to remain calm. They stumbled and fell short by five runs in the end.

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Can you think of any more reasons SRH were eliminated early from the running for a playoffs berth in IPL 2023? Let us know in the comments section below.