Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned the SRH for not utilizing Nitish Kumar Reddy well with the bat in their IPL 2026 match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). He added that the seam-bowling all-rounder was sent to bat below Aniket Verma and Salil Arora as well and he couldn’t score a run off the only ball he faced.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “The SunRisers Hyderabad’s flawed tactic needs to be spoken about. What was Nitish Kumar Reddy doing in the dugout? Are you guys not thinking? What is your plan for Nitish Kumar Reddy? What do you want to do? The boy has been scoring runs. You sent Aniket and Salil ahead of him.”

“You sent him for one ball in the end. What is the point? Don’t people think about what is happening and whether they are doing the right thing? Was no one sitting there who could tell them what’s right? He wasn’t unfit. He came and bowled as well. So it was totally beyond my understanding what Hyderabad were trying to do there,” he again added.

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“Abhishek Sharma had the most runs against this team. He said he likes Mullanpur and this team, and he likes hitting, so he kept hitting. He completed his half-century in the powerplay probably for the first time. The team scored 105 runs in the powerplay. Abhishek was playing very well. Travis Head was seen playing slightly 50-50,” he shared.

While talking about PBKS’ chase in the same video, Aakash Chopra applauded Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh for giving their side a flying start

“Punjab conceded runs, but then they came out firing. Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh were brilliant. If SRH had a good powerplay, they had an equally good one. Whoever was coming was going after getting hit,” he said.

“Ultimately, Shreyas Iyer came and once again controlled the run chase, and he is a master at it. In fact, there was a very good stat as to who has scored the most runs in successful run chases since IPL 2024. The chase master (Virat Kohli) has the most, and Shreyas Iyer is standing right next to him. I believe his name should come soon in the T20 setup,” Chopra concluded.