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Former India captain and chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth on Wednesday criticized Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins after his team’s defeat to Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2026 Eliminator.
Srikkanth criticized Cummins for not appreciating Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s brilliant inning of 97 runs in 29 balls.
Suryavanshi gave a crushing defeat to Sunrisers
Vaibhav Suryavanshi walked towards the Maharaja Yadvendra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh like a man on a mission. The mission included a half-century in 19 balls and hitting 8 sixes in the powerplay, including three consecutive sixes off Cummins. At the end of the powerplay, Suryavanshi was batting on 60 runs in 20 balls.
After the on-field ban ended, he hit four more sixes and missed the record century. SRH staged a comeback in the latter half of the innings to restrict RR to 243 runs as none of the batsmen apart from Suryavanshi and Jurel made any real contribution.
Like their bowling, SRH’s batting fell apart in the powerplay. Jofra Archer dismissed three left-handers – Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Jofra Archer – within the first six overs, and SRH could only muster a 47-run defeat from there.
You have to give him some praise – Kris Srikkanth
After the match, Cummins said,Yes, he played very well. Yes, don’t think you have too many options. Obviously, it’s a really good pitch, but the margins are very thin. If you miss your yorkers even a little, he doesn’t miss them. So yes, fair play,” when asked about Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s innings.
On his YouTube channel, Srikanth reprimanded Cummins for not saying a single word in praise of Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Srikkanth said Cummins needs to appreciate what the 15-year-old has done instead of talking about things like ‘margin of error’.
He said, “I don’t like the fact that Cummins didn’t say a single word of praise for Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Instead, he is saying that there was less margin for error, and that’s why he scored. He should have praised a 15-year-old kid for being so sensational. A 15-year-old kid demolishes you and takes you out of the tournament. You have to give him some praise.”
Further into the conversation, Srikkanth said that SRH needs to take the tough decision of handing over the captaincy to Ishan Kishan instead of hanging on to Cummins. “They will have to take some big decisions. SRH came back to the playoffs not because of Cummins but because of Ishan Kishan’s captaincy. Kishan was the one who opened the bowling along with Saqib Hussain and Prafulla Hinz.”
Srikkanth said, “They might have performed better by making Kishan the captain. Cummins is also reluctant to use spin.” Cummins and Kishan led the way in 7 matches each in the group stage. Cummins won five while Kishan won four matches.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi in IPL 2026
Vaibhav Suryavanshi created a stir in IPL 2026 and broke many records. He still has at least one more match in which he will try to do more amazing things.
Overall, he currently has the Orange Cap with 680 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of 53. Suryavanshi has also scored 4 fifties and one century in IPL 2026. He has also hit 65 sixes in the entire season, breaking the record for most sixes in a season.
Also read: Andre Russell and Chris Gayle were surprised by Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s eliminator feat