Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad is a former IPL champion and current runner-up that features a large fan base. Many see them as one of the favourites to win the 2025 title due to their potential and strengths. Among their biggest advantages are the following.

But, the Sunrisers also have a few weaknesses that can cause some issues this season. Here are the ones that every fan and bettor should know about:

This year, Sunrisers Hyderabad will put their trust in a highly professional and skilful group of players. Some of their best cricketers are Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, and Abhishek Sharma.

Historical Performance

Sunrisers Hyderabad started out on December 18th 2012 after the termination of IPL team Deccan Chargers from the same city. Since then, the team has managed to play in 12 league seasons.

You can follow their home matches at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. This ground can hold up to 55,000 cricket fans at once.

Over the past 12 IPL seasons, Sunrisers Hyderabad reached the playoffs 7 times. They ended up playing in 3 finals where they lost 2 (2018 and 2024) and won one (2016). We should also note that the previous Hyderabad team (Deccan Chargers) have also managed to win the title in 2009.

In their first couple of seasons, many admired the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s ability to bowl sides and defend low totals. Now, fans are appreciating their batting performances.

You should also know that Sunrisers Hyderabad holds the record for the second-highest IPL match win with 277/3 runs. This occurred on March 27th, 2024 against Mumbai Indians.

As for player records, David Warner is on top of the list in terms of the team’s most run scores with 4,014. On the other hand, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the club’s all-time leader in wickets with 157.

Sunrisers Hyderabad in Recent Seasons

Over the past 5 IPL seasons, Sunrisers Hyderabad had more downs than ups. But, diehard fans still remember the positive ones. One of them occurred in 2020 when the team finished the group stage in 3rd place.

They had a total of 14 points, the same as Royal Challengers and Knight Riders in 4th and 5th position, respectively. However, the Sunrisers had a much better net run rate, which allowed them to finish above the others.

During the playoffs, the team managed to beat Royal Challengers in the quarter-finals by 6 wickets. But, the Sunrisers weren’t lucky in the semi-finals as they lost by 17 runs to Delhi Capitals.

In 2021, the team had a season to forget as they finished the first phase in the last 8th place. They accumulated just 6 points from 3 wins in 14 matches and had a net run rate of -0.545.

The following year they improved their performances by getting 12 points from 6 wins. But, they still failed to qualify for the playoffs after ending in 8th out of the total 10 positions.

Instead of getting even better, Sunrisers Hyderabad once again underperformed in the IPL. They finished in the last 10th place with 8 points from 4 wins.

Last year, they finally overcame the bad run of seasons after ending the group stage in second place. Sunrisers Hyderabad accumulated 17 points after winning 8 and playing one match with no result. This allows them to play in the quarter-finals against Kolkata Knight Riders.

After losing the featured playoff match, the team went up against Rajasthan Royals in the semi-finals. Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 36 runs, which sent them straight to the IPL final. Sadly, the fairytale ended there as the club lost to Kolkata once again, this time by 8 wickets.

Sunrisers Hyderabad Players 2025

When constructing the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad 2025, the management decided to start the season with 20 players. For this task, they retained 5 players, including 4 from overseas, and acquired 15 additional cricketers. We’ll reveal all of them below this segment.

Batters

The featured club will attack the 2025 IPL title with 5 players who specialise in batting. Only two of them were part of the squad last season while the other 3 are new cricketers. Here’s the full list of batters who are currently at Sunrisers Hyderabad:

• Travis Head – This is a retained Australian left-handed batter who had a pretty good season last year. He managed to make 567 runs in 15 matches, helping the team reach the final.
• Abhinav Manohar – A right-handed batter who joined the team last season. Since then, the club has been using him as a backup for its main batters. In 2024, he played only 2 matches where he scored 9 runs.
• Sachin Baby – A 36-year-old left-handed middle-order batsman who just joined Sunrisers Hyderabad. He previously acted as a backup for Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. As such, he appeared in 19 matches and scored 144 runs.
• Atharva Taide – Another new player who plays as a left-handed batter. Taide was previously part of Punjab Kings, where he scored 247 runs in 9 matches. At Hyderabad, he’ll most likely be a backup batter.
• Aniket Verma – Sunrisers Hyderabad signed this player during the auction in November 2024. He’s a 24-year-old right-handed batter who is still waiting to make his first appearance in the IPL. Hopefully, he’ll be lucky to do it this year.

Wicket-Keepers

As wicket-keepers, the Sunrisers Hyderabad choose to rely only on 2 individuals. Both are powerful players and the team will surely consider them as key players this season. The featured cricketers that will guard the wicket are the following:

• Ishan Kishan – A well-known wicket-keeper who just signed with Sunrisers Hyderabad. In past seasons, he played for the Titans and the Indians where he accumulated a total of 2,644 runs. He also won 2 IPL titles with Mumbai.
• Heinrich Klaasen – This is a South African retained wicket-keeper who’s ready for his third season with Hyderabad. In his last 2 years at the club, he managed to get 927 runs in 28 matches.

All-Rounders

Sunrisers Hyderabad currently have only 3 all-rounders who can help the team with batting and bowling. This is a lower number of such players compared to other IPL teams. But, the management surely knows what they are doing. You can read about these cricketers below.

• Nitish Kumar Reddy – An all-rounder who’s been at the club since 2023. He uses a right-handed batting and right-arm medium-fast bowling style. During his career at Hyderabad, he took 3 wickets and scored 303 runs in 15 matches.
• Abhishek Sharma – Sunrisers see this all-rounder as one of their key players. He plays as a left-handed batter and slow left-arm orthodox bowler. But, he’s far better at batting than bowling as his stats include a total of 1,377 runs and 11 wickets.
• Kamindu Mendis – This is a new Sri Lankan all-rounder who is ready to begin his IPL career this season. He can act as a left-handed batter and slow left-arm orthodox bowler.

Bowlers

The list of Sunrisers Hyderabad players in 2025 wouldn’t be full without the bowlers. This season, the team will compete with 10 cricketers in this position. Among them are 3 spin and 7 pace bowlers. The players responsible for attacking duty are the following:

• Pat Cummins – The team captain who signed for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2024. He plays as a right-arm fast bowler and many regard him as one of the best of his generation. Cummins can also play as a lower-order batsman if needed.
• Harshal Patel – A newly acquired right-arm medium-fast bowler who previously played for a couple of other IPL teams. During his 105 league matches, Patel managed to take 135 wickets. Last season he even received the Purple Cap award for getting 24 wickets.
• Mohammed Shami – This is another great right-arm medium-fast bowler who signed for Hyderabad this season. In the past 3 years, he accumulated a total of 58 wickets in 42 matches, which is a very good form.
• Eshan Malinga – Sunrisers just signed this Sri Lankan right-handed medium-fast bowler to increase the team’s competitiveness. This is his first club in the IPL and he’ll surely hope to get his debut this season.
• Simarjeet Singh – Another youngster who signed for the team during the 2024 November auction. Previously, he spent 2 years with Chennai Super Kings where he acted as backup player. So far, he has played 10 matches and took 9 wickets.
• Brydon Carse – An Englishman who is ready to begin his IPL chapter with Sunrisers Hyderabad. He follows a right-arm fast bowling style, but he can also help with right-handed batting.
• Jaydev Unadkat – This cricketer has been playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad since last year. In his first season, he managed to get 8 wickets in 11 matches. Hopefully, he can get even better stats in 2025.
• Adam Zampa – This is yet another recently signed player from Australia who acts as a right-arm leg-break bowler. He previously performed for 3 other IPL clubs but failed to earn a standard starting position. In 3 seasons, he took 21 wickets in just 14 matches.
• Rahul Chahar – A 25-year-old right-arm leg-break bowler who is ready to help Hyderabad win the league. He’s playing in the IPL since he was 17 and has so far taken a total of 75 wickets in 78 matches. Chahar even won the competition in 2020 with Mumbai.
• Zeeshan Ansari – Sunrisers acquired Ansari’s services this season and he will surely act as a backup. He can help the team as a right-arm leg-break googly bowler. However, this player is yet to debut in the IPL.

Sunrisers Hyderabad Captain

This player is also appearing in Australia’s domestic cricket scene for New South Wales. In season 2018/19, the league’s federation awarded Cummins with the Allan Border Medal for being Australia’s Cricketer of the Year. He also got a nomination in 2019 for the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award.

Sunrisers Hyderabad Rivals

This team doesn’t have a fierce rivalry with a large number of IPL clubs. The only club that the fans see as their main league competition is Royal Challengers Bengaluru. However, the followers from the featured team don’t really see Sunrisers Hyderabad as their rivals.

Either way, the start of this somewhat IPL rivalry first started with the former Hyderabad team, Deccan Chargers. The latter managed to win 6 out of the total 11 matches. One of them was the 2009 IPL final, which got the Chargers their one and only title.

After that, the rivalry continued with the formation of Sunrisers Hyderabad. Both teams played a total of 25 matches against each other. Hyderabad won 13, Royal Challengers got 11 victories, and one event ended with no result.

The teams met in the 2016 IPL final, which Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 8 runs. In 2020, both clubs played against one another in the 2020 quarter-finals. Royal Challengers lost once again, this time by 6 wickets.

In terms of titles, Sunrisers Hyderabad has one (or 2 if we count the one won by Deccan Chargers). On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bengaluru doesn’t have a single IPL trophy.