"This team might think about Ishan Kishan" - Aakash Chopra on SRH's potential releases after IPL 2025 win vs LSG

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) might consider releasing Ishan Kishan after IPL 2025. He pointed out that the franchise does not have too many big-ticket players who don't deserve to be retained.

SRH beat the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by six wickets in Match 61 of IPL 2025 in Lucknow on Monday, May 19. Although Kishan scored 35 runs off 28 deliveries in Monday's game and smashed an unbeaten 106 off 47 deliveries in their tournament opener against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on March 23, he has aggregated only 231 runs at a below-par average of 25.67 in 11 innings this season.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener noted that SRH would want to retain their destructive opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head. However, Chopra pointed out that Kishan hasn't contributed much apart from his century in the first game and could be one of the expensive players they might want to release.

"If we look at it from their perspective, if Abhishek Sharma plays like this, it seems like he is very good, as he is playing extremely well. Atharva Taide was there in this match. Otherwise, Travis Head is there. You feel that is also fine," the cricketer-turned-commentator said (13:25).

"This team might think about Ishan Kishan as to what needs to be done. He scored a century, but he had probably scored 144 (196) runs in total before the last match started. If there is a drought after a century, there is a question about the direction you should go," he added.

Chopra reckoned that the last season's runners-up are unlikely to release most of their players.

"They won't be able to release too many expensive players. Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins, Nitish Kumar Reddy - you will retain them and not let them go. I am saying they would also retain Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat. They should retain Adam Zampa and they might also want to retain Zeeshan Ansari," he elaborated.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra named Ishan Kishan and Mohammad Shami as the only costly players SRH might want to let go of. Shami, much like Kishan, has endured a disappointing season, picking up only six wickets at an economy rate of 11.23 in nine innings.

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"They might think about it, but then they will think they shouldn't" - Aakash Chopra on whether SRH should change their approach after IPL 2025

Abhishek Sharma was at his destructive best in SRH's IPL 2025 clash against LSG. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra reckoned that the SunRisers Hyderabad might consider changing their ultra-aggressive batting approach in IPL 2026, but would eventually stick to the same template.

"They will definitely ask themselves a question as to whether they should change their playing template. They might think about it, but then they will think they shouldn't. They don't need to make too many changes," he said (14:25).

The analyst pointed out that SRH chased down a 200-plus target against LSG easily when their batters fired.

"If they play like they played in the last match, where Heinrich Klaasen comes, and Abhishek Sharma comes at the top, and if Travis Head is there with him, and Nitish Kumar Reddy's bat also starts firing, things are absolutely fine. They chase a 200-run target without breaking a sweat. I feel Hyderabad will see it from that perspective," Chopra observed.

SRH achieved a 206-run target with 10 deliveries to spare in Monday's game. While Abhishek Sharma smashed 59 runs off 20 deliveries, Heinrich Klaasen virtually sealed the win with his 28-ball 47.