“Ishan Kishan will have to bowl more” - Former captain’s interesting take after SRH vs LSG IPL 2025 match

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has claimed that the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowlers will soon lose confidence if they continue to bowl on flat surfaces at their home venue, the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The Orange Army have already conceded well over 400 runs across their first two matches, with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) recently hunting down 191 runs in just 16.1 overs.

SRH have availed flat wickets in the early stages of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), which serves their explosive batting unit well. They profited immensely during their season opener against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), where they scored 286 runs - the second highest team total in IPL history.

An off-day with the bat meant that SRH ended up with a below-par total against the visiting LSG side. The bowling attack had no chance of defending the total after the early assault by Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran. Skipper Pat Cummins was the sole bowler to have an economy rate of below 10, and turned to Ishan Kishan in the closing stages of the game.

"SRH have to be careful that the bowlers do not lose their confidence, because their bowlers are bowling on this road. Zampa has been absolutely destroyed, Shami has gone for 12 per over, so SRH have to be careful. The bowlers are bowling on roads at the home venues, and suddenly you expect them to turn up in away conditions, and they are not full of confidence," Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.

Vaughan joked that SRH may have to rely more on Kishan's bowling prowess in the future home games since the frontline bowlers will refuse to bowl.

"Maybe Cummins has found something there (with Kishan). Maybe that is the way to go. By the time they play their fifth game at home, Ishan Kishan might have to bowl more, because the rest of the bowlers will be like 'I ain't bowling on that road'," he added.

Kishan bowled his part-time off-spin during the 2024 Buchi Babu Tournament for Jharkhand as well as during the 2024 Duleep Trophy while representing India C.

"I've not yet seen a team win a franchise league by just playing one style of cricket" - Michael Vaughan on SRH's ultra-aggressive approach

Hyderabad's ultra-aggressive approach stumbled on select occasions in the previous season, where they made it to the final. Vaughan remarked that SRH will have to be versatile and adapt better rather than relying on their all-out approach all the time.

"I'm just worried that the Sunrisers just play this one style of cricket, and it might not be possible all the time. Tonight, they fell short because they were ultra aggressive. If they were a little bit smart, they could have got 220-230, that's hindsight. I've not yet seen a team win a franchise league by just playing one style of cricket," Vaughan opined (as per the aforementioned source).

After featuring in consecutive home games to kick-start their campaign, the Orange Army will play back-to-back away games next. They will face Delhi Capitals (DC) in Vishakapatnam on Sunday, March 30, and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday, April 3.