'Good on paper but not producing results' - Zaheer Khan highlights reasons behind Sunrisers Hyderabad's downfall

Despite being one of the best teams on paper, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are struggling in the ongoing IPL 2023. However, in their last match, the Aiden Markram-led side made some changes to their batting unit, as Abhishek Sharma was sent out to open alongside Mayank Agarwal and that eventually worked wonders as the young opener smashed 67 off 36 to give a perfect start to his team.

Talking about Abhishek Sharma’s impactful performance, former India cricketer Zaheer Khan stated that the 22-year-old should continue to open while Harry Brook, who scored a century against Kolkata Knight Riders earlier in the tournament, should bat in the middle order. 

“He should continue batting at the top of the order even though (Harry) Brook has scored a hundred. IPL is such a tournament that you pay heavily if you make mistakes at the top of the order. A lot of planning goes into finalising these things even before the tournament starts,” Zaheer said while talking on JioCinema.

The legendary pacer also believes that Brook’s promotion created a lot of confusion in the batting unit and that might have played a huge role in their series of defeats earlier in the tournament. He also stated that the off-field decisions play a huge role in how a team performs in a tournament.

“They went back to the pair of Mayank Agarwal and Sharma to open the innings today and it paid off. Brook's promotion to the top earlier had led to a lot of confusion in their ranks. Even today, I reiterate that SRH are a very good side on paper, but they are not producing the best results and that has to do with something unrelated to cricket. How you approach games, the decisions you make are a big part of IPL.” Zaheer added.

Notably, after a nine-run win over Delhi Capitals, Hyderabad now have six points to their name after eight games, however, they are ninth on the IPL Points Table.