SRH lost the Eliminator game of IPL 2026 to RR by 47 runs.
RR was asked to bat first, and thanks to 97 by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and 50 by Dhruv Jurel, posted 243/8 in 20 overs. In response, SRH started well with Ishan Kishan making a quick 33, but irresponsible shots led to a collapse. Though Nitish Reddy (38) and Salil Arora (35) tried to salvage some pride, SRH was bowled out for 196 and was eliminated from the IPL 2026.
Ashwin slammed SRH’s shot selection and lack of game awareness in such a high-pressure knockout clash.
“I think SRH could have won this match quite easily. When they had already scored around 32-34 runs in the first two overs and nearly 50 in the first three overs, Ishan Kishan’s shot was completely unnecessary. He threw his wicket away. There was absolutely no meaning to playing such a shot in such a big match. It was a very poor shot,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin also sheds light on Travis Head’s inconsistent performance in IPL 2026. Though Head made 410 runs in 15 games, with a strike rate of 170.12, he managed only two fifties and a best score of 76.
“Travis Head has not performed at all this season. The management definitely needs to think about Travis Head. He should have played more responsibly. There was no point in getting out by playing such a poor shot,” Ashwin added.
“SRH were still in the match until the 14th over when Nitish Kumar Reddy was batting. But if you keep losing so many wickets, you can never chase such a huge total. If SRH had shown a little more game awareness and played with calmer minds, they could have won this match comfortably. Honestly, it was a very poor batting performance from the SRH team,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, RR will now face GT in Qualifier 2 on May 29 in New Chandigarh, with a spot in the IPL 2026 final on the line.