Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth called Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) youngster Sakib Hussain the find of the IPL 2026 season. The franchise signed the 21-year-old speedster in the 2026 mini auction for 30 lakhs. After not featuring in the playing XI for the initial games, Hussain has set the IPL on fire in SRH’s last three games. Boasting a series of variations, Sakib Hussain has picked up six wickets at an average of 14.16 and an economy of 7.08.
Kris Srikkanth Hails Sakib Hussain as Find of the Tournament
Talking about Sakib Hussain’s arrival while speaking on his own YouTube channel. Kris Srikkanth said, “He is definitely the find of the tournament. He bowls with such intelligence, while also being capable of bowling fast. This boy is brilliant. Along with him, Prince Yadav is the other big find of this tournament.”
Since Sakib’s entry in the line-up, SRH have won three in a row after a slow start, where they won one game and lost three games at the start of the season. They are now on 4 wins and 3 losses after 7 games and are currently placed third in the IPL points table.
Kris Srikkanth Strongly Defends KL Rahul
Kris Srikkanth defended Delhi Capitals (DC) opener KL Rahul for his sub-par scoring rate in the side’s 47-run loss to SRH. Chasing a massive 243 for the win, DC only scored 59 runs in the power play of 6 overs to find themselves way behind on the eighth ball. While Rahul finished with 37 off 23 balls, his strike rate of 160.86 was well below the required rate.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kris Srikkanth said, “This team is only capable of scoring 190. I won’t blame KL Rahul. His job is to hold one end up as the opener. And he is striking at 160, what more do you want from him? He can’t be an Abhishek Sharma. He had some problems with his hand and wasn’t able to play his shots. He is not a bulldozing opener. His range is 160 to 180 strike rate, and he should be left alone to do that. The rest should be blamed, not him.”Â
The former captain also blamed the entire DC side as a collective for the SRH loss by adding, “We can’t blame their batters at all for this defeat. It’s absolute rubbish. The bowlers did a bad job by giving almost 250. You can’t expect the batters to chase that. Plus, DC doesn’t have the batting firepower. Miller is over the hill and is not the old Miller. They don’t have a bulldozing batting line-up.”Â
DC has now lost three of its last four games after starting the season with consecutive wins. It’s been a tale of two contrasting fortunes for both teams this season. DC started with wins and now has lost 3 out of 4 games after winning their initial two games, while SRH started slowly. They lost three of their first four games but have now bounced back with a hat-trick of wins, which has taken them to 3rd in the table while DC are in 5th place, blowing hot and cold.
Sakib Hussain has impressed one and all and is the find of the tournament so far. He has good variations and mixes it up nicely for the batters. Praful Hinge is also bowling well for them, though he didn’t play last night. DC have some thinking to do. To put the blame on KL Rahul is an easy thing to do for all of us. But the problem lies with the bowling and tactical strategies, as Axar Patel has made blunders on the field. Axar needs to look at himself rather than Rahul because KL is doing his bit. Others need to step up as soon as possible before it is too late.
Also Read: SRH VS DC: Abhishek Sharma’s 2nd IPL Ton Powers SRH To 242/2.