A disappointing first fortnight, a spectacular three and a half weeks thereafter. It’s been a stunning turnaround for Sunrisers Hyderabad, the 2016 champions who began IPL 2026 with three defeats in their first four outings, but have since embarked on a fabulous run that has netted them six victories on the bounce.

What makes their revival even more special is the fact that they have seamlessly embraced a change in captaincy too, with Pat Cummins effortlessly slipping back into the role he has performed with aplomb in the past. Well before the start of this season, it was evident that Australia’s Test and One-Day International skipper would miss the early part of IPL 2026, recovering as he was from a back injury that restricted his participation to just one Ashes Test in the Australian summer and forced him out of the T20 World Cup, where Australia crashed out in the first round following defeats to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

Kishan’s second coming

With Cummins guaranteed to miss the initial few matches of the tournament, the Sunrisers management bestowed the captaincy on Ishan Kishan, a late entrant to the franchise but clearly establishing his leadership credentials in no uncertain terms. His own career at a crossroads until a year and a half back, Kishan took charge of the Jharkhand team in the domestic season gone by. Not only that, he masterminded a wonderful run in the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that culminated in his state emerging triumphant in the tournament for the first time. The icing on the cake? A century by Kishan himself in the title round.

Such were the numbers he stacked up during that tournament that India were compelled to turn to him just before they announced their squad for the defence of the T20 World Cup, won in Bridgetown under Rohit Sharma in June 2024. Finally acknowledging their mistake in trying to resurrect Shubman Gill’s patchy T20I career, Ajit Agarkar’s selection panel decided it was time to part ways, even if only temporarily, with India’s Test and ODI leader. Out went the call to Kishan, the final evidence that he was deemed to have served penance for disobeying the BCCI diktat and refraining from playing domestic cricket in the early part of 2024. Kishan was stripped of his central contract for his temerity; that he was now being considered as one of the key batting cogs at the World Cup was a shot in the arm for the little wicketkeeper-batter, who played his part in India becoming the first team to win the World Cup in the shortest format on home turf.

SRH placing faith in Kishan was an extension of the BCCI recognising his worth, though Kishan’s captaincy career with his new franchise got off to a rocky start. Despite a whirlwind 80 in the tournament opener before his innings was halted in full flow by a screamer from Phil Salt, Kishan found himself on the losing side as defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru hunted down a target of 202 with consummate ease. Victory in the next outing, at home against Kolkata Knight Riders, was cancelled out by consecutive losses to Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings as Hyderabad found themselves in the doldrums, their power-packed batting line-up let down by the munificence of the bowling in which old warhorses Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat no longer posed the same threat with their variations as they had in the past.

With their campaign hanging from the slenderest of threads and Cummins still some distance away from returning to match play, Hyderabad worked the changes, investing in uncapped Indian quicks. At the very first time of asking, they struck gold with debutants Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain running amok against the formidable Rajasthan Royals top order at their Uppal base in Hyderabad. Hinge became the first bowler in the history of the competition to take three wickets in the first over of a match – needless to say, also the first debutant to pick up three scalps in his very first over – on his way to a four-wicket haul. Sakib followed suit with four wickets of his own as Rajasthan were swept aside by a mile, kickstarting a run that has made the Hyderabad outfit one of the frontrunners for a playoff berth.

Hinge’s three first-over victims were Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 15-year-old prodigy who courted a golden duck, Dhruv Jurel and South African Lhuan-dre Pretorius. Sakib had Jaiswal caught at the deep third-man fence in the second over as both unheralded quicks justified the faith of the leadership group. It was just the tonic the southern team required to rejuvenate a flagging run; with the rest of the bowling group led by Sri Lankan Eshan Malinga holding its own, left-arm wrist-spinner Shivang Kumar finding life in the fast lane to his liking and Cummins showing that he was never really away despite missing the first eight matches, Hyderabad have ticked over like a well-oiled machine.

It will be no exaggeration to place the credit for the dramatic upswing in fortunes at the feet of the bowling group, in which Nitish Kumar too has been a vital contributor. In the off-season, Nitish worked assiduously on his bowling, working on getting his pace up and embracing greater consistency in his sessions with Steffan Jones, a specialised pace coach. The results are there for all to see; the all-rounder has been used in various capacities, including as a new-ball operator, and he has responded to every challenge with a great heart and no mean exhibitions of skill. Hyderabad have become primarily a pace-heavy bowling unit, not unlike many others in the IPL for whom spin has become a secondary suit, and with all the parts ticking over nicely, they are reaping handsome rewards as the competition hurtles towards the business end.

Fearsome batting unit

If hardly a word has been written so far about the munificence of batting riches that Hyderabad boast, it’s almost a back-handed compliment because so many have come to take their batting might almost for granted. In Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head --- TraviShek, as they are called – they have arguably the most destructive opening pair of the tournament. They were the first to buck the oft-touted significance of having a left-right combination at the top. The two left-handers complement each other superbly, instinctively knowing when the other is in the mood and backing off just that little without trying to compete with their partner for impact and effort. Rather than competing with one another, they support and feed off each other. Abhishek is an acknowledged slayer of spin without being too far behind when it comes to taking on pace, while Head is a marauder at the top of the order, though he hasn’t been at his absolute best this season.

In recent games, the Australian too is showing signs of rediscovering top touch, which isn’t the best news for the other teams in the fray that lie ahead of Hyderabad. Following this destructive left-handed tandem is a third left-hander in Kishan; between them, this trio has scored more than 1,200 runs already this season, with Head’s not unimpressive 174.39 the least of the three strike-rates. Abhishek, who has 43 fours and 36 sixes, is striking at 210.17 and Kishan at 186.75; there is no more dangerous top-three in the tournament, and it is showing no signs of slowing up.

Add the wonderfully strokeful South African Heinrich Klaasen to the mix, and we get a line-up better than the best in the business. You’d think someone with 475 runs from 11 innings (Abhishek) would be on top of the run-making charts, at least as far as the franchise is concerned, but you’d be wrong in this instance. Klaasen, the gifted right-hander whose season began somewhat scratchily but who is now striking the ball as well as anyone else, has an astonishing 494 runs at a team-high average of 54.88. He is only striking at 157.32, which is quite a handful in normal course, but that relatively low strike-rate compared to the three batters above him is offset by his supreme consistency, which has already netted him five half-centuries.

Hyderabad have also been able to eke out meaningful and impactful runs down the order from Nitish, who has scored his 222 runs at a strike-rate of 166.91. His all-round efficacy is a much under-rated but massive contribution to his franchise going to the top of the table after its seventh win from 11 games – he also has seven wickets against his name – and singles out Hyderabad as the team to look out for, and beat, as the race for a place in the top four intensifies, especially after a hat-trick of losses for once high-flying Punjab Kings, who suddenly have embarked on a downward spiral.

Opinion has remained divided on the role of momentum in the 20-over game. Many feel that once a team gets on a roll, it becomes difficult to stop, a view endorsed by those who are on a winning streak. Others, like Punjab who go from one defeat to another, feel that momentum is overrated and that it all boils down to how one executes their skills on a given day. There is no definitive answer on which opinion is more correct than the other. If you ask Hyderabad, one suspects, they will talk in generic terms, talking about taking it one match at a time, about not getting carried away by past results and insisting that past victories will have no bearing on future outcomes. That’s perhaps a sanguine way of looking at things.

Especially with the shake-up of their bowling attack, Hyderabad have showcased the courage and bravery required to be successful in this format. Some might say their hand was forced in a way, following their less-than-ideal start to the campaign. Harshal went at 11.48 in his four bowls without taking a wicket, while Unadkat was only marginally better, his four wickets somewhat redressing an economy rate of 10.90. Hinge has blown hot and cold since his sensational debut, but Sakib has proved himself to be an effective wicket-taker (10), backing up Malinga (16 wickets, economy 9.44) quite wonderfully.

They say that batters win matches and bowlers win tournaments. Hyderabad have both disciplines ticking over beautifully. Who knows, maybe this is the year Cummins (and Kishan) emulate David Warner and take them to their second crown.