After finishing 8th, 8th, and 10th in the last three editions, 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad bounced back in the 2024 edition of the IPL and finished as runners-up. The Hyderabad-based franchise finished 2nd in the league table and then failed to get the better of KKR in the final to finish 2nd. Under Australia’s Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins leadership, SRH impressed everyone with its performance in IPL 2024, and the franchise would like to retain the many top players from the last edition for the upcoming 2025 season as well.
They are expected to keep hold of as many as three overseas players and two Indian youngsters who played a big role in the team’s super show in 2024.
Here’s a look at six players SRH should retain ahead of IPL 2025 mega auctions:
Pat Cummins: SRH splashed out Rs 20.50 crore to sign Australia’s ODI World Cup 2023 winning captain in the IPL 2024 auction, and in his first season in charge, the 31-year-old right-arm pacer led them to a runners-up finish. Apart from his leadership, Cummins impressed with his performance on the field, as apart from dismissing 18 batters in 16 matches, he also scored 136 runs with a strike rate of 143.15.
Travis Head: SRH signed Australia’s ODI World Cup 2023 final hero Travis Head for Rs 6.80 crore in the IPL 2024 auction, and the left-handed batter took the season by storm. In 15 matches for the Pat Cummins & Co., Head hammered 567 runs with a strike rate of 191.55. The 30-year-old Australian cricketer is one of the best all-format batters of present times, and it will be a big mistake if SRH lets him go.
Heinrich Klaasen: South African wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen joined SRH for Rs 5.25 crore in the IPL 2023 auction. In his first season, he amassed a total of 448 runs in 12 matches for the Orange Army, and in the 2024 edition, he scored 479 runs in 16 matches. The 33-year-old right-handed batter is one of the most dangerous white-ball batters of present times and has won many matches single-handedly for the Hyderabad-based franchise.
Abhishek Sharma: Abhishek Sharma played in all 16 matches of IPL 2024 for SRH and scored 484 runs with a strike rate of 204.21. The 24-year-old left-handed batter won the award for hitting maximum sixes (42) in the 2024 edition of the cash-rich league and also picked up two wickets in four innings.
Nitish Kumar Reddy: Nitish Reddy made a big name for himself in the 2024 edition of the cash-rich league. In 13 matches, the 21-year-old cricketer from Andhra scored 303 runs and also picked up three wickets with his medium-pace bowling. He won the Emerging Player of the Tournament award and was then picked in the Indian team for the T20I series against Zimbabwe in July 2024, which he missed due to injury.
Nitish is an uncapped Indian player as of now, but if he makes his debut in the three-match series against Bangladesh, he will become capped, and SRH then can’t retain him under the uncapped player quota.
Abdul Samad (uncapped): SRH retained Jammu & Kashmir cricketer Abdul Samad ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, and again, he is one of the leading candidates to be retained by the franchise as an uncapped player. He played in all 16 matches of IPL 2024 for SRH and overall has 577 runs to his name in 50 IPL matches played so far.
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