Sunrisers Hyderabad have the most destructive opening pair in Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma but Cheteshwar Pujara thinks the Hyderabad outfit got couple of concerns to address before the IPL 2026 begins.
The former India batter said that SRH’s opening duo of Head and Abhishek are even more dangerous than RCB’s previous opening pair of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. When Head and Abhishek get going then a score above 270 looks real easy, and SRH have done it in the previous editions of the IPL.
“In the last couple of seasons, what we have seen from the openers of Sunrisers Hyderabad – Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head – I can certainly say they are one of the most destructive opening pairs in IPL history. Both are batters who know how to attack from ball one. SRH has consistently crossed the 250-run mark in the last couple of seasons thanks to them,” Pujara said on Star Sports.
“No other team in the IPL has done that consistently. That is only because of the two openers. Smashing the ball all over the park and doing it on a regular basis is what makes them special. When we talk about aggressive opening pairs in the IPL, the pair of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli comes to mind. But this duo of Head and Abhishek is even more destructive. No bowler wants to run in and bowl against an opening pair like Abhishek and Head.”
But Pujara was quick to point out couple of concerns for SRH who would play the opener of IPL 2026 against RCB on March 28.
“SRH are a very destructive side and score a lot of runs when they play at home in Hyderabad. But away from home, their record is very poor. When they play away matches, they fail to maintain their destructive batting intent,” he said.
“That is because all the teams know that SRH rely on their batting power to set big totals. Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, and Heinrich Klaasen are their main batters. Once they get dismissed, SRH struggle to get going. That is where opposition teams take advantage and prevent them from putting up big totals. That is something they will have to work on,” Pujara added.
