Former India batter Aakash Chopra has expressed his concerns surrounding Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) bowling amid the injury crisis ahead of the start of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
With less than a week to go for the start of the showpiece tournament, SRH have seen their overseas bowling contingent take a hit. Skipper Pat Cummins along with Eshan Malinga have been ruled out for the start of the season, while Jack Edwards is set to miss the tournament in its entirety.
Despite having a plethora of Indian bowling options at their disposal, Chopra believes that those are relatively weak compared to other teams in the tournament. The former player-turned-expert stated that should their batting lineup post 250 plus, their weakened bowling unit are capable of conceding the same amount of runs.
"There will be challenges because the bowling has been dealt a serious blow. Pat Cummins was already not there. So, the bowling was already slightly weak, and if Eshan Malinga is also not there, it means you will have to play Brydon Carse, or else you won't be able to play with Indian bowling," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"When I see their bowling, it has Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain, Omkar Tarmale, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Harshal Patel, Shivam Mavi, Shivang Kumar and Harsh Dubey, but the bowling is weak. How they manage the bowling will be a challenge because if they score 250, they might concede 250. Their bowling looks like that. Unfortunately, that much might is not being seen in their bowling," he added.
With Malinga and Cummins out, should SRH want to field an overseas bowler in their ranks, they only have England’s Brydon Carse. The right-arm seamer, however, has not played a T20I since October 2025 and was not even in the squad for the recently-concluded T20 World Cup.
A lot of their bowling responsibility will fall on the experienced Indian duo of Jaydev Unadkat and Harshal Patel. The pair picked up 27 wickets between them last time around.
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