Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori called out the tricky pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium behind their poor performance in IPL 2025. After a rain-marred match against Delhi Capitals, they are now out of the playoffs race.
Following a rain-marred match against Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad are out of the playoffs race in the ongoing IPL 2025. After redefining T20 cricket in the last edition, the Pat Cummins-led side was expected to break several records this time around, but in reality, they have struggled throughout and have managed to win three out of 11 matches.
After the match against Delhi, SRH head coach Daniel Vettori noted the change in surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium behind a dismal season. He analysed that the surface heavily supported the batters last year, but things changed drastically in 2025, and that affected the performance of the players. He added that the goal wasn’t to play an aggressive brand of cricket but to assess the conditions and play accordingly.
I definitely didn’t say after every match I was backing an aggressive approach. I said we’re about assessing conditions and this year, the conditions weren’t as we expected. If you look at last year, there were a lot of high-scoring games here,” Vettori said in the post-match presentation.
“These surfaces in particular have been a little bit different. It has been tricky, it hasn’t been easy for the batters. All we’ve talked about is assessing conditions, trying to read the game and understand what to do in certain situations. I think the guys are innately aggressive, but certainly, this season has been about trying to establish what’s been required on the day,” he added.
In 2025, it was only four times that a team managed to surpass the 200-run barrier in Hyderabad. Last year, it turned out to be a common practice, as teams scored over 200 runs on seven occasions. Vettori analysed that the conditions were bowler-friendly this time around, with the pacers having an extra edge.
