Daniel Vettori bemoans the condition in Hyderabad this season as he believes they ‘weren’t what we expected this year’.
Daniel Vettori bemoans the fact that the conditions in Hyderabad didn’t match their expectations, and that they were tricky for batters.
After their washout against the Delhi Capitals eliminated them from contention for the IPL 2025 playoffs, he explained that the team’s batting approach wasn’t inherently aggressive.
“I definitely didn’t say after every match I was backing an aggressive approach,” Vettori said. “I said we’re about assessing conditions and this year, the conditions weren’t as we expected. If you look at last year, there were a lot of high-scoring games here.
“These surfaces in particular have been a little bit different. It has been tricky, it hasn’t been easy for the batters. All we’ve talked about is assessing conditions, trying to read the game and understand what to do in certain situations. I think the guys are innately aggressive, but certainly, this season has been about trying to establish what’s been required on the day.”
In the six games that Hyderabad has hosted thus far, teams have reached 200 runs in four of the eleven total innings. But last year, teams reached 200 seven times in 12 innings. Vettori said that because the conditions were more bowler-friendly, there were fewer high-scoring pitches.
“There have been two surfaces that have been 250-plus, and there have been four here that have been probably more conducive for the fast bowlers. Not so much the spinners but new ball has been a little bit sticky, hard to hit, not coming onto the bat. The IPL has some of the best new-ball bowlers in the world and they were able to exploit those conditions.”
SRH entered the match needing a victory to remain in the tournament with three victories in ten games. After lowering DC to 133 for 7, they were well-positioned to do it. To Vettori’s annoyance, however, rain did not arrive until after the first innings was over.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing. We came in with high hopes, but we haven’t been consistent enough with our performances. I’ve spoken to you guys a number of times around just not being able to put complete performances together. Today was the start of a complete performance, so it’s frustrating that we couldn’t finish it but that’s cricket.”