IPL 2026: Franklin warns against underestimating KKR, hails Nitish Reddy’s resurgence for SRH

Having lost three of its first four matches this season, Sunrisers Hyderabad has since embarked on a winning run that has lifted the side into the top four. While the mood in the camp is understandably upbeat, assistant coach James Franklin pragmatically said the team is focusing on one game at a time.

“KKR comes off the back of a couple of wins and we know they’re going to be a big challenge for us. It’s a day game as well, which we haven’t played for a few weeks and there’s the challenge of the heat here at this time of year. We’ve just got to make sure that we turn up with the same sort of intent that we’ve had recently.”

“Most teams will probably look at working on PowerPlay bowling and how to be effective against batting that’s so destructive at the moment. We’re constantly analysing how we can deploy our bowling resources through that phase and how we can try and create half opportunities,” he explained. 

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The 45-year-old hailed Nitish Kumar Reddy’s all-round contributions this season. 

“He gives us that fifth or sixth bowling option and his pace is up a little bit from last year, when he struggled a little bit with a few niggles. He’s been incredibly versatile through different phases. That also then complements his batting. He just looks free, like he’s really enjoying his cricket at the moment.”

His partner Heinrich Klaasen has also been in imperious touch. “Maybe the fact that he came in fresh has meant that he’s been able to keep a level of consistency going, which is incredibly hard in T20 cricket. He’s been awesome at it.”

Published on May 02, 2026