"I feel this season is gone for them" - Aakash Chopra on SRH after IPL 2025 loss vs MI

Former India player Aakash Chopra has expressed pessimism about the SunRisers Hyderabad's (SRH) IPL 2025 playoff qualification chances after their loss to the Mumbai Indians (MI). He opined that last season's runners-up might win a few games, but are unlikely to finish in the top four.

SRH suffered a four-wicket defeat against MI in Match 33 of IPL 2025 in Mumbai on Thursday, April 17. They managed only 162/5 after being asked to bat first before the home team achieved the target with 11 deliveries to spare.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener opined that the loss to MI has virtually knocked SRH out of playoff contention.

"It pains my heart, but I feel this season is gone for them. This match was extremely important. They will host MI after this, and then they have a match against CSK. They may win a few, but now I feel this team has gone far away from qualification. At times, just the one match takes you far away, and I think Hyderabad are unlikely to qualify," he said (2:50).

Chopra added that Pat Cummins and company have been found wanting with both bat and ball this season.

"It's sad as they were playing well. They got two or three pitches that didn't suit them. They are not bowling well in any case. In batting also, Nitish Kumar Reddy hasn't really arrived yet. Ishan Kishan scored a hundred in the first match, but nothing after that. The team underperformed a little this time. It's not been a good story," he observed.

Nitish Kumar Reddy has aggregated 131 runs at an underwhelming average of 21.83 in six innings in IPL 2025. Ishan Kishan has managed just 138 runs at an average of 27.60 in seven innings despite smashing an unbeaten 106 in SRH's tournament opener against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

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"Will Hyderabad always get stuck if they are made to play on such a pitch?" - Aakash Chopra on SRH's batting in IPL 2025 loss vs MI

Abhishek Sharma (40) top-scored for SRH in their IPL 2025 clash against MI. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the SunRisers Hyderabad batting struggled again on a slightly sluggish pitch in their IPL 2025 clash against the Mumbai Indians.

"Mumbai won the toss and bowled, and the pitch that was prepared was totally beyond my understanding. Will Hyderabad always get stuck if they are made to play on such a pitch? Remember, they played at home against Gujarat on a 160-run pitch, and they couldn't bat," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the usually destructive opening pair of Abhishek Sharma (40 off 28) and Travis Head (28 off 29) consumed 7.3 overs for their 59-run partnership.

"This time, both openers didn't get out as well, they had a 50-run opening partnership, but they had never played slower than this. They could have gotten out two or three times, catches were dropped, and a guy's (Karn Sharma) webbing got torn, but the bat was not striking the ball," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Chopra opined that SRH's batting weakness on sluggish pitches is a concern.

"It was an extremely sluggish pitch at the Wankhede. Something that nobody anticipated. Hyderabad's weakness when the ball gets stuck a little came to the fore, and that is a problem," he noted.

Apart from Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen (37 off 28) was the only SRH batter to score more than 30 runs in Thursday's game. While Ishan Kishan scored two runs off three deliveries, Nitish Kumar Reddy consumed 21 balls for his 19 runs.