'This happens in T20 cricket': SRH captain Pat Cummins backs his team after crushing 82-run defeat to GT

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins defended his side despite their crushing 82-run defeat against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash on Monday.

Chasing a target of 169, SRH suffered a dramatic batting collapse and were bundled out for just 86 runs in 14.5 overs. The defeat marked one of the franchise’s worst batting performances of the season as Gujarat’s pace attack completely dismantled Hyderabad’s star-studded lineup.

Despite the one-sided loss, Cummins backed his batting unit and insisted that poor outings are part of the T20 format.

Also Read: IPL 2026: Kagiso Rabada-Jason Holder dismantle SRH as GT cruise to commanding win

Pat Cummins reacts after SRH’s batting collapse

Cummins admitted that Gujarat’s bowlers made excellent use of the conditions and praised their execution on a difficult batting surface.

"I feel they bowled really well in that second innings. I was pretty happy with when we walked off at the start, but yeah, pretty tricky wicket. I think they made the most of it, their bowlers, they bowled really well. So, yeah, maybe try and look at ways to get through that spell, but, you know, they deserve a bit of credit," Cummins said after the match.

The SRH skipper also reflected on the nature of the pitch and how Gujarat’s bowlers consistently hit the right lengths throughout the innings.

"Yeah, I mean, you always look at it. It looked like a pretty tough wicket once you kind of hit that back of the length and they didn't really give us much to score. So, perhaps in our bowling innings, you kind of, you learn from that, you think maybe we could have held our lengths just a little bit longer."

Backing his batters despite the collapse, Cummins added:

"Our batting order's been fantastic. So I don't think we need to read it too far into today. I think all four of our top four have over 400 runs. So, the guys are going really well. This happens in T20 cricket."

Also Read: Sai Sudharsan scripts history, matches RCB greats' milestone during GT vs SRH IPL 2026 clash

Gujarat Titans dominate SRH with ruthless bowling display

SRH’s chase never got going after Mohammed Siraj dismissed Travis Head for a duck in the opening over.

Kagiso Rabada then removed Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan in quick succession to leave SRH in deep trouble at 23/3.

The collapse continued as Jason Holder and Prasidh Krishna ripped through the middle order, including the wicket of Heinrich Klaasen.

Cummins provided brief resistance with a late cameo featuring a boundary and a six before Rashid Khan wrapped up the innings with the final wicket to seal a commanding victory for Gujarat.