Daniel Vettori explains the reasons behind SRH’s lopsided defeat to MI: “We wanted to bowl first because the conditions were vastly different.”

MI’s Hardik Pandya chose to field first after winning the toss. It was a pivotal moment that evening, according to SRH head coach Daniel Vettori. He claimed that because the conditions were different from those of the past games at the famous stadium, SRH would have also bowled first if they had won the toss. Daniel Vettori acknowledged that his batters were constantly behind the eight ball after losing four fast wickets because they were unable to adjust to the conditions.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) was anticipated to make another impression in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 after making it to the final the previous season. However, the Pat Cummins-led team lost to the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday, April 23, their sixth loss in eight games this season.

“Obviously, the toss was significant, in my opinion. Because the conditions were so different from the previous ones, and because it was a different wicket, we decided to bowl first. We’ve talked about the fact that it’s a 280-250 wicket. As a result, things drastically changed. Daniel Vettori was quoted by Cricbuzz as saying, “It is obviously difficult to be able to get that assessment early about what a par score was.”

It goes without saying that you want to maximise that power play when you get in there early. Sadly, we were unable to do so and continued to lose wickets. We had to work towards that kind of 180 score after realising that the surface wasn’t what we had expected. Unfortunately, when you’re 24 for four following the power play, that’s hard to accomplish,” he continued.

Daniel Vettori expressed regret at Ishan Kishan’s untimely termination, saying it placed a great deal of strain on the squad. After Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma left cheaply on Wednesday, the former New Zealand captain also noted that SRH have had trouble forming partnerships during the season.

“After we completed that, perhaps two overs, it was determined that the 250–260 wickets that had been taken in the previous two games were not present. And it’s clear that we went further. I mean, it’s clear that Ishan’s firing is regrettable, and that puts pressure on everyone else. Even in a powerplay scenario, you want to make the most of those two fielders out. Therefore, the batsmen who are there to attempt and score some runs still have some pressure.

And the fact that they were unable to finish it today was very regrettable,” Daniel Vettori stated.

“Understanding what a good score is, what a par score is and being able to set it up. We’ve had a lot of success because Travis and Abhi [Abhishek Sharma] are particularly aggressive when they play. If they are unsuccessful, the other batters are held accountable. The ability to form partnerships and have one or two individuals step up in games is perhaps what we haven’t had this season. It was a touch too late for us, but we got two today,” he continued.