5 SRH players who can be match-winners in IPL 2026

Sunrisers Hyderabad revitalised the game in 2024 with a brand of cricket that almost completely caught the IPL off-guard, as hard hitting throughout the innings and regular 250+ totals became the norm. Packing their team with capable hitters of both pace and spin, they have become a batting juggernaut in the last two seasons, despite the strength of their bowling attack waning after the 2025 Mega Auction. Their batting unit still has capable players who can turn games around single-handedly.

Let us take a look at five players who can be matchwinners for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026:

5) Ishan Kishan

One of the most brilliant resurgences in cricket in a few years, Ishan Kishan’s India career looked almost done. However, he finds himself a T20 World Cup winner, and stand-in captain in the absence of Pat Cummins. He toiled in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, finishing as the highest run getter as Jharkhand romped to the title, and with 314 runs in the T20 World Cup, he was a vital part of India’s T20 World Cup triumph, filling in as an opener and batting at number 3.

An able hitter of pace and spin, Kishan finds himself in a position of leadership responsibility with Cummins missing the initial stages, being provided a platform to maximise his strengths with the bat in a team which is tailor-made for his style of play.

4) Aniket Verma

When Aniket Verma was scouted and signed by the Sunrisers Hyderabad, they were fully aware of what they were getting: a lower-middle order six-hitter who can strike a long ball. Playing as a finisher in the 2025 season, Aniket scored 236 runs, striking at an impressive 166.20. An impressive 41-ball 74 against the Delhi Capitals and a blistering cameo of 36 runs from just 13 balls, including five sixes, were his best knocks in the season.

Now, in his second season, Aniket has established himself as a regular in the Sunrisers team, and with his power-packed six-hitting ability, he will be expected to contribute more to the back end of the innings. 

3) Travis Head

Travis Head is a match-winner in the truest sense, having played innumerable game-defining knocks for Australia in crunch matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him in the 2024 Auction, and despite his blistering first season in which he scored 567 runs at a strike rate of 191.55, his returns waned in 2025, as he could manage 374 runs at 162.61. But none that should deter a player of Head’s capabilities.

Head is coming off a dismal T20 World Cup campaign, where Australia were knocked out in the group stages. Prior to that, though, he dominated England in the home Ashes series, scoring 629 runs in 10 innings after being pushed up to open the batting for Australia. 

2) Harshal Patel

With Pat Cummins’ injury layoff and the departure of Mohammed Shami to the Lucknow Super Giants, the onus now falls on Harshal Patel to lead the SRH bowling attack as the senior bowler. The two-time Purple Cap winner is a wicket-taking threat, with a plethora of slower balls and cutters at his disposal. His accurate execution makes him one of the most reliable bowlers in the middle and death overs of a T20 innings. 

Harshal is now one of the senior bowlers in the squad, alongside Jaydev Unadkat, and the Sunrisers will be looking to him to guide them through the initial stages of the IPL, which captain Cummins will miss. 

1) Abhishek Sharma

With returns of 141 runs and a solitary half-century and three ducks, The T20 World Cup was not kind to the dashing Indian opener despite India’s triumph. But the skill and talent that he possesses is undoubted and the IPL will once again give him a platform to put behind the demons from the T20 World Cup.

Abhishek scored 439 runs at a blistering strike rate of 193.39 in the previous season, which included a mammoth 141 off just 55 balls, in a daunting chase of 247 against the Punjab Kings. Abhishek is a glorious strokemaker, capable of clearing the boundary with ease on all sides of the wicket. SRH will be hoping he is at his best after putting the dismal T20 World Cup behind him.