Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Heinrich Klaasen can enter the IPL 2026 auction that is set to be held later this year. According to a report by The Times of India, the Hyderbad-based franchise can release the South African before the auction. He was one of the highest earning players in the tournament last season as he was retained for a whopping feee of INR 23 crore.
Klaasen was SRH's highest earner
He was also the highest earning player in SRH last season ahead of both Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore) and Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore). Though Klaasen did have quite a slkow start to the season, he finished with a career-best tally of 487 runs, scoring a century and half-century each in 13 innings. He maintained an explosive strike-rate of 172.69 in the tournament alongwith an average of 44.27.
If SRH do end up releasing Klaasen before the auction, then they will have INR 23 crore added to their budget and this can prove to benefit the franchise in the event.
“There are strong murmurs and it could well be a smart move by SRH if they do that. Going into the auction with Rs 23 crore more allows them a reasonable shot to fill in the crucial gaps – assemble a penetrating bowling attack and get their middle-order act right. They can even have a fair shot at getting the South African back (for) around Rs 15 crore and the balance can help them do some effective shopping," TOI quoted a source as saying.
Meanwhile, Klaasen shockingly announced his retirement from international cricket in June, 2025 after the conclusion of the IPL season. He had already announced retirement from Test cricket in January of 2024, and decided to hang up his boots from the white-ball formats as well after careful consideration of his family's future. He is now totally focused on T20 leagues taking place across the globe.
SRH looking to make more changes
On the other hand, the report further stated that SRH have already started discussing about their auction strategy as they are determined to bounce back after a heavily disappointing IPL 2025 campaign. Another point that the report made is that the franchise are considering to make changes to their bowling attack and want to add another spinner to the team, moving on from Rahul Chahar.