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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are out of IPL 2026 after a crushing defeat against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the eliminator on May 27 in New Chandigarh. After Sunrisers Hyderabad missed another chance to win their second IPL title, talks have started about the balance of their team.
They have an explosive batting unit, but their bowling strength has always been a subject of debate this season. In the league stage, Sunrisers Hyderabad showed tremendous fight and won 9 out of 14 matches and stood third in terms of net run rate.
Tom Moody reveals the main problem in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s strategy
But in the knockout game when it mattered most, the Hyderabad team failed to perform well and lost. After Rajasthan Royals qualified for Qualifier 2, former SRH head coach Tom Moody, who led the team to its maiden IPL title in 2016, has now expressed an obvious concern.
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Moody pointed out that SRH have built a team around heavy-hitting batsmen, but the lack of investment in the bowling side has also taken a toll this season. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting order once again performed well in IPL 2026.
SRH’s exit from IPL 2026 raises questions on team balance
Players like Heinrich Klaasen (624 runs), Ishan Kishan (602 runs) and Abhishek Sharma (563 runs) dominated IPL 2026, while Travis Head also played impressive innings and crossed the 500-run mark despite struggling for consistency with the bat.
But their bowling attack looked weak in the tournament. Ishan Malinga performed brilliantly with the ball for SRH, taking 20 wickets, while Shakib Hussain also took 15 wickets. Even Prafulla Hinge and Shivang Kumar did well in bits and pieces, but overall, their bowling attack lacked depth and experience, especially in pressure moments.
Tom Moody criticizes Sunrisers Hyderabad for focusing only on brand building
Moody feels this is happening because most of SRH’s budget and focus goes into building a powerful batting unit, leaving the bowling attack almost ignored and they are paying the price for it. The former head coach pointed out that even big names like Pat Cummins alone are not enough when the rest of the bowling attack does not have the same strength or variety.
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Tom Moody said on ESPNcricinfo timeout: “It’s a brand worth admiring, but it also has a price. They haven’t lifted a trophy yet with this brand. Yes, they’re giving themselves a window of opportunity. But the price is also the fact that you need to invest to play that brand.
And that investment is lost when it comes to the bowling side. So, you are putting a lot of money into the way you play as a batting unit. You are left short of money to build a strong bowling unit to support that.”
Brand is good but balance is needed: Tom Moody’s stern warning to SRH after being ruled out of IPL 2026
Citing the example of other teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Moody said that successful teams always maintain a good balance between batting and bowling and this is what SRH desperately needs to make a strong comeback in IPL 2027 and end their decade-long title drought.
He signed off by saying, “This is [about] Trying to find that balance, and I think that’s where RCB is [Royal Challengers Bengaluru] have got it. They’ve got that balance right. So, I’m not against the brand, but you have to try to balance it when you’re talking about the salary cap and everything.
