"I don't think they will change" - Aakash Chopra on SRH's approach ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs GT

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) are in a spot of bother in IPL 2025 after losing three consecutive games. However, he opined that the last season's runners-up are unlikely to temper their aggressive batting approach.

SRH will host the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Match 19 of IPL 2025 in Hyderabad on Sunday, April 6. Pat Cummins and company started their campaign in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League with a 44-run win against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the same venue on March 23 but have lost three back-to-back games thereafter.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener virtually ruled out the chances of SRH adopting a more conservative approach to address their slide.

"Hyderabad, what are you people doing? You have lost three matches on the bounce. A team can manage if they lose two matches, but if you lose three consecutive matches, you should realize that you are going down the drain, and it will be slightly difficult to come out of that," Chopra said (6:25).

"I didn't think this kind of batting lineup would be in such a situation. I didn't think Travishek (Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma), who were flying high, would crash-land. The biggest question is whether Hyderabad will change their playing style. I don't think they will change," he added.

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player reckoned that the SRH batters shouldn't change their approach.

"To be fair, why should you change after collecting such a team? If you had to ask them to play easy, you should have bought someone else. When you bought such explosive batters, it won't work out if you expect them to play cautiously," Chopra reasoned.

However, Aakash Chopra urged the SunRisers Hyderabad players to play according to the situation. While observing that Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan should play aggressively, he opined that Nitish Kumar Reddy should assume the anchor's role if SRH lose early wickets, with the other batters continuing to hit.

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"You are playing too much pace" - Aakash Chopra urges SRH to change their playing combination for IPL 2025 clash vs GT

Zeeshan Ansari (center) has impressed as a spinner in SRH's last two games. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra urged the SunRisers Hyderabad to play two wrist spinners in their IPL 2025 clash against the Gujarat Titans.

"You are playing too much pace. You are thinking that it would work out only with pace. You will have to play some spin. You have three good leg spinners - Zeeshan Ansari, Adam Zampa and Rahul Chahar. Play at least two, and if you play them, bowl spin," he said (8:00).

While observing that Pat Cummins needs to utilize his spinners better, the analyst added that the SRH captain should opt to bat first if he wins the toss.

"The spinners bowled well in the last match and picked up two wickets as well, but you totally bowled only four overs of spin. I think you need to bowl a bit more spin, and, if possible, win the toss and bat first. You are unable to chase 200 runs," Chopra observed.

The SunRisers Hyderabad suffered an 80-run defeat while chasing a 201-run target in their previous game against the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, their earlier two losses, one against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the other against the Delhi Capitals (DC), came while setting targets.