Ravichandran Ashwin strongly criticised Sunrisers Hyderabad’s reckless batting approach following their 47-run defeat to Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2026 Eliminator, even suggesting that the franchise management may need to make a tough call regarding Travis Head’s future.Chasing a massive target of 244, SRH’s explosive batting line-up crumbled under pressure during a disastrous powerplay collapse. Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger tore through the top order as Hyderabad slipped to 57/4 inside the first five overs, effectively derailing the chase.Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a duck in Archer’s opening over, while Ishan Kishan’s aggressive cameo of 33 off just 11 balls ended prematurely after what Ashwin described as an unnecessary shot. Smaran Ravichandran fell cheaply, before Archer delivered the biggest blow by clean-bowling Travis Head for 17 off eight balls.Despite fighting knocks from Nitish Kumar Reddy (38 off 20) and Salil Arora (35 off 21), SRH never fully recovered from the early collapse and were eventually bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs.Reacting to the defeat on his YT channel ‘Ash Ki baat’, Ashwin slammed SRH’s shot selection and lack of game awareness in such a high-pressure knockout clash.“I think SRH could have won this match quite easily. When they had already scored around 32-34 runs in the first two overs and nearly 50 in the first three overs, Ishan Kishan’s shot was completely unnecessary. He threw his wicket away,” Ashwin said.“There was absolutely no meaning to playing such a shot in such a big match. It was a very poor shot,” he added. Ashwin was particularly critical of Travis Head’s season and hinted that SRH management should reassess his role moving forward.“Travis Head has not performed at all this season. The management definitely needs to think about Travis Head. He should have played more responsibly. There was no point in getting out by playing such a poor shot,” Ashwin added.The veteran spinner felt SRH still had a realistic chance while Nitish Kumar Reddy was at the crease, but the constant loss of wickets made the massive chase impossible.“SRH were still in the match until the 14th over when Nitish Kumar Reddy was batting. But if you keep losing so many wickets, you can never chase such a huge total.“If SRH had shown a little more game awareness and played with calmer minds, they could have won this match comfortably. Honestly, it was a very poor batting performance from the SRH team,” he concluded.
