Clear vision: Cummins said the team was really happy with its composition.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

From the highs of a runner-up finish last season to getting eliminated from the playoffs race with three games left, Sunrisers Hyderabad has huffed and puffed its way through the 2025 IPL campaign.

The attention now turns to a possible rebuild in the franchise’s quest to bounce back in the upcoming seasons. Skipper Pat Cummins, however, rallied behind the current squad and its ability to compete for a playoff spot going forward.

Balance

“I don’t think you’ll see too many changes to the squad. We are really happy with how the squad has come together. It’s not going to click every single year. I think, on balance, we’re going to be a team that competes for the playoffs more years than not. Unfortunately, this year it’s not going to be one of those years,” Cummins remarked.

The pitches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium have gone from friendly tracks to a Pandora’s box for SRH’s explosive batters.

After registering five wins and just one defeat at home last season, SRH scraped together just two wins at the venue this year, with one game (against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday) left.

Despite dwindling fortunes at home, Cummins stated that the vociferous support from the Orange Army makes it easy for him and the team to stay motivated whenever they take to the field.

“Playing at Uppal makes it very easy to be motivated. The crowd’s been amazing. It’s been a packed house every time we play,” he said.

“There’s always so much to play for. Even if it’s not clicked this season, you’re always trying to perfect your own game and come up with a formula and a style of play that maybe gets us to a position where we can compete for the title next year”.

Inter Milan’s head coach Simone Inzaghi celebrates with Francesco Acerbi at the end of the Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match between Inter Milan and Barcelona at San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, on May 6, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Inter Milan has another Champions League final to look forward to. Once the players catch their breath, that is.

In the end it took extra time, two astonishing comebacks and 13 goals to separate Barcelona and Inter and see the Italian club — which was a mere seconds away from elimination — prevail 7-6 on aggregate after winning another rollercoaster encounter 4-3 on Tuesday (May 6, 2025).

Substitute Davide Frattesi was the extra-time star for Inter, firing home in the 99th minute to leave the Barcelona players slumped to the ground while his Nerazzurri teammates — including those on the bench — were racing to celebrate with him.

“I don’t know what happened tonight. I’m lucky I managed to finish the game, I screamed so much [in celebration] that I saw everything black,” Frattesi told Italian broadcaster Sky.

Moments earlier, he’d been encouraging the already loud San Siro crowd to make more noise and the atmosphere grew more feverish after Frattesi delivered on his super-sub reputation again.

“That’s part of my career,” the midfielder said.

“I wasn’t given so much incredible talent, but I am always the last one to give up and the first one to believe we can do it. At 3-3, I told Marcus [Thuram] that we would go through.” Three-time European champion Inter, which lost the 2023 final to Manchester City, will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal in Munich on May 31 for the title. PSG beat Arsenal 1-0 in London last week in their first match. The return leg is on Wednesday (May 7, 2025) in Paris.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi thinks his squad has shown in wins over Barcelona in the semis and Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals that it can compete against the very best.

“My players have been extraordinary, they’ve put out there two monstrous performances to get to this final,” he said.

“We have to continue. The final will be played against a really great team, whether it’s Arsenal or PSG. Barcelona and Bayern are probably the best teams in Europe at the moment, but it will still be difficult.” There was little sign at halftime of the drama to play out. Inter was comfortably leading 2-0 after Lautaro Martínez scored and earned a penalty, which was converted by Hakan Çalhanoglu.

But Barcelona had been in that position before, having gone 2-0 down early last week in the first leg before securing a thrilling 3-3 draw.

And Eric García scored nine minutes after the break before Dani Olmo headed in the equalizer six minutes later.

Raphina appeared to have secured the win for Barcelona when he put the Spanish club ahead two minutes before full time, tucking away the rebound after Yann Sommer had saved his initial shot.

However, 37-year-old Francesco Acerbi astonishingly leveled in stoppage time — with his first goal in European competition — to add another 30 minutes of time.

Frattesi had proved crucial off the substitutes’ bench before, both for Italy and Inter, and so he was again, controlling Mehdi Taremi’s pass and beating Pau Cubarsí before curling past Wojciech Szczesny.

Barcelona almost leveled again but Sommer made a fingertip save to push Lamine Yamal’s shot past his post.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said he told his players “I know everyone is disappointed … but at the end we can be proud of our performance.” “I’m proud of my team,” he said.

“We have to accept it and we start again next season.”