🏆 PLAY DREAM11 IPL 2026 — GET ₹100 BONUS
Sunrisers Hyderabad are the most fascinating team in IPL 2026. Their philosophy is absolute: bat first, bat explosively, set massive totals, and defend them. In 2024, they were runners-up. In 2025, they missed the playoffs — a disappointing result that hungry, proud players have spent a full year thinking about. Now, with Pat Cummins back leading the side (fitness permitting), Travis Head opening the batting, Abhishek Sharma alongside him, and Ishan Kishan set to captain in the opening matches, SRH head into 2026 as the tournament's great dark horse.
⚡ Practice form: In SRH's March 21 intra-squad game, Abhishek Sharma struck 94 off 42 balls while Ishan Kishan scored 72 runs captaining SRH B. Jaydev Unadkat then took a 5-wicket haul. The firepower in this squad is genuinely frightening.
FULL SRH SQUAD 2026
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD — FULL SQUAD 2026
| Player | Role | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Pat Cummins (c) | Fast Bowler | Australia |
| Travis Head | Opener | Australia |
| Abhishek Sharma | Opener | India |
| Ishan Kishan (wk) | WK-Batter | India |
| Heinrich Klaasen | WK-Batter | South Africa |
| Nitish Kumar Reddy | All-rounder | India |
| Liam Livingstone | All-rounder | England |
| Kamindu Mendis | All-rounder | Sri Lanka |
| Harshal Patel | Fast Bowler | India |
| Brydon Carse | Fast Bowler | England |
| Jaydev Unadkat | Fast Bowler | India |
| Shivam Mavi | Fast Bowler | India |
| Harsh Dubey | Spinner | India |
| Zeeshan Ansari | Spinner | India |
| Salil Arora | All-rounder | India |
| Aniket Verma | Batter | India |
| R. Smaran | Batter | India |
| Eshan Malinga | Fast Bowler | Sri Lanka |
| Krains Fuletra | Spinner | India |
| Jack Edwards | All-rounder | Australia (Ruled Out) |
THE BATTING BEAST
SRH have arguably the most explosive top-order batting combination in IPL 2026. Travis Head's 2024 final performance (102 off 41 balls for SRH vs KKR) remains one of the great IPL innings. Abhishek Sharma's 94 off 42 balls in their pre-season game confirms his devastating form. Ishan Kishan (72 in the same practice game) will open or bat at 3. Heinrich Klaasen at 4 or 5 is one of the most feared death-overs finishers in world cricket — capable of turning 120/3 into 200+. Add Liam Livingstone, Nitish Reddy (73 off 40 in practice), and Kamindu Mendis — SRH's batting has 8 match-winners before reaching the tail.
CONCERNS: BOWLING & INJURIES
Pat Cummins injury: Cummins has had an injury concern heading into IPL 2026, and Ishan Kishan will captain in the opening matches. The loss of Cummins — who brings both quality bowling and world-class batting presence at No. 6 or 7 — would be a major blow. Jack Edwards has been ruled out for the entire season. ESPNcricinfo noted SRH "signed plenty of Indian domestic seamers" but questions remain about whether any of them can fill the gap left by Mohammed Shami's exit. Their spin attack is also largely inexperienced, though the new left-arm wrist spinner Krains Fuletra adds an interesting new dimension.
"A power-packed top-4, but an injury prone bowling attack — can LSG force their way into the playoffs? The same question applies to SRH."
— ESPNcricinfo IPL 2026 Preview, March 2026OUR VERDICT: DARK HORSE SUPREME
SRH are our 4th-ranked squad for IPL 2026 and the tournament's most unpredictable team. When the batting fires — and at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium with its flat pitches, it often does — SRH can beat anyone. The batting unit of Head + Abhishek + Kishan + Klaasen + Livingstone is the most feared collection of T20 hitters in world cricket right now. But if Cummins is unavailable for extended periods and the bowling attack misfires, they are capable of imploding just as dramatically. High ceiling, real risk — that's the SRH story in 2026. 🟠
