Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have built their IPL 2026 squad around strong top-order power and an explosive middle order, with Pat Cummins again leading the side and big names like Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen in the batting group. However, recent form charts tell a different story for three of those stars, who have not been at their best in the build-up to the new season.
According to a recent report on SRH’s situation, Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen are the three players whose form is a concern ahead of IPL 2026. All three have shown high-impact T20 batting in the past, but their numbers in the 2025–26 period and in the T20 World Cup 2026 have been below their usual levels.
Abhishek Sharma: From explosive opener to lean run
Abhishek Sharma has been one of SRH’s most aggressive openers in recent IPL seasons, often giving the team fast starts with a very high strike rate. His clean hitting in the powerplay and his success for both India and SRH in T20 cricket made him one of the most talked-about young batters in the format.
However, his recent form heading into IPL 2026 is a clear worry. During India’s T20 World Cup 2026 title defence, Abhishek scored only 80 runs in six matches at an average of 13.33, which is far below what is expected from a top-order batter in this format. His struggle to convert starts and his trouble against new-ball plans from opposition teams have pushed him into the “poor form” bracket ahead of the league.
In some early games of the World Cup, analysis shows that Abhishek even had a run of failures, including multiple low scores, despite coming into the tournament with a strong reputation from earlier T20 series. Bowlers targeted him with tight lines and short balls, and he was not able to adjust quickly, which affected India’s starts in a few matches.
Even though his talent and past IPL numbers for SRH remain strong, these recent figures mean that his form will be closely tracked once the IPL season begins. For now, he enters the 2026 edition with a lean patch behind him rather than a run of big scores.
Travis Head: Aggressive game, but patchy numbers
Travis Head was one of the standout T20 batters in the 2024 season and later became a big part of SRH’s attacking template at the top of the order. His fearless approach in the powerplay, where he often goes hard at fast bowlers from ball one, made him a key signing and later a retained player for the franchise.
Yet, his 2025–26 T20 record has been mixed. In T20 internationals during 2025, Head played around five matches for Australia and scored only 62 runs, with a highest score of 31. These numbers show that he was not able to build many big innings, even though he continued to play with a positive intent at the top of the order.
His stats from the T20 World Cup 2026 also point to some inconsistency. In that tournament, he made 111 runs in four games at an average of 27.75, which looks decent but not outstanding for a player who is known for match-defining knocks in big events. There were starts and a few quick cameos, but there was also a lack of one big innings that completely changed a game, unlike some of his previous World Cup performances.
Despite this, his strike rate and impact style still make him dangerous whenever he gets going, and he remains a central part of SRH’s top order on paper. But going into IPL 2026, his recent scorecards show a clear drop from his peak 2024 form, and that is why he is being counted among the SRH players who are not in ideal touch.
Heinrich Klaasen: League numbers have gone quiet
Heinrich Klaasen has built a strong name for himself as one of the most powerful middle-order batters in T20 franchise cricket, including the IPL. For SRH, he has often been the player trusted to attack spinners and pacers in the middle and at the death, with his ability to clear boundaries straight and over midwicket.
In the 2025 season across various T20 leagues, Klaasen still scored over 300 runs in about 19 innings, but his impact started to drop in early 2026. The most striking example of this dip came in the SA20 2025–26 season, where he played for Durban’s Super Giants and had a relatively modest campaign.
In SA20 2025–26, Klaasen scored 138 runs in 7–9 innings (different sources list 7 innings officially), averaging 19.71 with a strike rate around 129, which is noticeably lower than his usual T20 standard. He was not able to produce many 30-plus scores and often got out after short stays, which is unusual for a batter who is usually known for big, fast innings in the middle overs.
This quieter run across leagues after IPL 2025 and into early 2026 has put his recent form under question, even though his long-term T20 and IPL numbers remain very strong. As a result, heading into IPL 2026, Klaasen joins Abhishek and Head on the list of SRH players who are not entering the tournament on the back of a strong run of scores.
SRH IPL 2026 squad around the struggling trio
Even with these three batters facing form issues, SRH’s squad for IPL 2026 still looks deep and balanced on paper. The franchise has kept its core and added several options with both bat and ball.
According to recent squad lists, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s IPL 2026 Team features:
- Batters: Ishan Kishan, Aniket Verma, Smaran Ravichandran, Salil Arora, Heinrich Klaasen, Travis Head
- All-rounders: Harshal Patel, Kamindu Mendis, Harsh Dubey, Brydon Carse, Shivang Kumar, Krain Fuletra, Liam Livingstone, Jack Edwards, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Bowlers: Pat Cummins, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Onkar Tarmale, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Shivam Mavi
Reports from the mini-auction and squad announcements confirm that SRH have invested in both Indian and overseas pace options, spin depth, and multi-role players, while keeping their high-impact top order together. The presence of Ishan Kishan and Liam Livingstone gives flexibility around the three under-pressure names, while Pat Cummins again leads the bowling group and the overall squad.
Form trends and roles for IPL 2026
The main concern that comes through recent coverage is that all three of Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen are central to SRH’s batting plans, but are not entering IPL 2026 in peak touch. Abhishek is key as an Indian left-handed opener who can attack from ball one, yet his T20 World Cup 2026 numbers show a clear slump. Travis Head is the other half of that attacking opening pair, but his recent T20I and World Cup returns are below his best.
Heinrich Klaasen, meanwhile, is the middle-order enforcer, but his SA20 2025–26 figures and other league outings in late 2025 and early 2026 point to a quieter period in his career. While his long-term stats in T20s and the IPL remain excellent, recent months suggest that he has not been able to produce his usual run of match-shaping innings.
Taken together, these trends explain why these three names are being highlighted as SRH players in poor form ahead of IPL 2026. The franchise still has a strong-looking squad on paper, but the recent numbers for this key trio are very different from the explosive highs that made them headline players in earlier seasons.
The post Top 3 SRH players who are out of form ahead of IPL 2026 appeared first on Sportzcraazy.
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