South African batter Heinrich Klaasen is set to be the highest-paid retained player for Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of the IPL 2025 season.
SRH to retain Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma for IPL 2025
According to ESPNcricinfo, Klaasen will receive a substantial retention fee of INR 23 crore (approximately USD 2.74 million).
The franchise has also finalized retention deals for Australian all-rounder Pat Cummins, who captained Sunrisers in 2024, and Indian all-rounder Abhishek Sharma. Cummins will be retained for INR 18 crore (approximately USD 2.14 million), while Sharma will receive INR 14 crore (approximately USD 1.67 million).
Nitish Kumar Reddy on SRH's radar too
Sunrisers Hyderabad are also expected to confirm the retentions of Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the near future. The IPL has set October 31 as the deadline for retentions before the mega auction later this year. Heinrich Klaasen had an impressive IPL 2024 campaign, scoring 479 runs in 15 innings at a remarkable strike rate of 171.07. He was Sunrisers Hyderabad's second-highest scorer, trailing only Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma. Abhishek Sharma also had a standout season, scoring 484 runs in 16 innings with an exceptional strike rate of 204.21. Notably, Pat Cummins, who led Sunrisers to the IPL 2024 final, was the team's captain.
Nitish Kumar Reddy emerged as a standout player during the season, earning the Emerging Player of the Season award. He also made his debut for India in T20Is and won a Player of the Match award. Reddy showcased his all-round skills, scoring 303 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 142.92 and taking three wickets.
Travis Head was another key contributor with the bat, opening the innings and scoring 567 runs at a strike rate of 191.55. With these players likely to be retained, Sunrisers Hyderabad will need to strategically approach the mega auction to build the rest of their squad.
The deadline for IPL teams to finalize their player retentions ahead of the 2025 auction is October 31, 2024. Teams can retain a maximum of six players through a combination of retentions and right-to-match options. This includes a maximum of five capped players (both Indian and overseas) and no more than two uncapped Indian players, as per the rules announced by the governing council.
A player who makes their international debut before October 31 will be considered capped for retention purposes. However, if they are retained as an uncapped player and subsequently play an international match before the auction, they will still be considered uncapped, and only INR 4 crore will be deducted from the team's auction purse.
The mega auction purse has been increased by INR 20 crore, providing each franchise with INR 120 crore (approximately USD 14.3 million) to spend.
