'They were not making but spoiling players' - Aakash Chopra's scathing remark on 'muddled' SRH

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra stated that Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) muddled thinking was their flaw heading into the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). Notably, SRH have had a forgettable campaign in the 2023 IPL, having finished at the bottom of the points table despite having some prominent figures in their squad. 

Chopra remarked that the SRH continuously changed their playing combination, which potentially led to their collapse throughout the previous season. He mentioned Umran Malik, stating the franchise did not use the Jammu pacer rightly.

"When I see their weakness, I feel that their thinking is muddled. The team was good last time as well, but why did they not do well? It's because they used to change the team in every third match. You spoilt Mayank Agarwal while trying to settle Harry Brook.

Also read: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) 2016 IPL winning team: Where are they now?

"You didn't use Umran Malik at all, and when you did, you didn't use him properly. He doesn't bowl in the powerplay, but you gave him overs there. Then you didn't play him. You need to make players. They were not making but spoiling players," the former India opener said on a YouTube channel. 

The 46-year-old further said that their past mistakes could continue to 'haunt' them in the forthcoming season as well.

"They were absolutely clueless in the end. The captaincy was ordinary, and the team was going like a rudderless ship. Ghosts from the past are there to haunt them a little. I see that as a slight weakness because if you have too many options, you make changes quickly as you have a temptation," he added.

We don't keep Pat Cummins in the gun players' list in T20s: Aakash Chopra  

Chopra went on to say that SRH's newly appointed captain Pat Cummins is a good player but believes he might not excel in the T20 format. The cricketer-turned-commentator also reasoned that the Aussie star will not pose a challenge for the opposition with the new ball or at the death. He added that picking the playing combination, specifically the overseas players, will be a serious challenge for the 2016 champions.

Also read: Sunrisers Hyderabad appoint Pat Cummins as new captain ahead of IPL 2024

"Their captain (Pat Cummins) is a very good player, but we don't keep him in the gun players' list in T20s, so much so that he is not even Australia's captain. He is the ODI captain but not the T20I captain. He doesn't bowl much in the powerplay and the death. If one of your overseas fast bowlers doesn't bowl in these two major areas, that is a problem. You see your overseas bowlers there, but here you will probably see Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan only. So that is a little area of concern," he said further.