Ambati Rayadu Reflects on Latest Sunrisers Hyderabad Defeat Against Kolkata Knight Riders

Ambati Rayadu shared his views on Sunrisers Hyderabad's latest defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2026. He said the SRH team looked very complacent, which gave KKR a huge advantage in the match.

For the unversed, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets in the recent encounter, as Varun Chakravarthy remained the star bowler by taking 3 wickets.

"They actually looked like a team after five wins because they have been complacent. Proper complacency, because they thought they can get away with no planning or anything would work for them. Once you get on a roll, you feel like everything is going to work. And against a team that is struggling in the tournament, you fancy your chances. And I somehow don't think they got their planning right.” said former India batter Ambati Rayadu.

Rayadu then shed light on some tactics which according to him were very badly employed by SRH in the latest game against KKR.

"In an afternoon game in Hyderabad, you know that the ball generally stops and comes. It's not an easy wicket to bat on [SRH chose to bat]. Later on, it becomes better. They should have known that because most of these guys have been playing there for a couple of years or more. I think it's bad planning to start off with." said Ambati Rayadu.

It should be noted that SRH are still sitting at No. 3 on the IP 2026 points table. If Punjab Kings had beaten Gujarat Titans later in the day, SRH could have gone to the top with a win, but they missed that chance badly.

Head coach Daniel Vettori said the main issue was losing wickets at important stages of the match. Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine did most of the damage, while Kartik Tyagi also picked up 2 for 30. Every KKR bowler who bowled got at least one wicket, so SRH never really got going.

"I think we had got off to a great start [71 for 1 in the powerplay] and couldn't capitalise on that. Lost some wickets at crucial times and when you're left with 160 [165], it's incredibly difficult to defend even if the wicket was a little bit slow. I think we had enough fight in there after the powerplay [KKR had an identical 71 for 1] to give us a small chance but they managed to chase really well.” said SRH head coach Daniel Vettori.