Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has named four possible players that Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) can retain ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auctions. The four players are Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen and Abhishek Sharma.
However, much to everyone’s surprise, Chopra did not add experienced pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar to this list. Bhuvneshwar has been associated with Sunrisers Hyderabad for a long time and has achieved most of his IPL success with them.
Bhuvneshwar has been Sunrisers Hyderabad’s key wicket-taking option over the years. He is extremely potent with the new ball and useful in the final over as well. The 34-year-old is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the IPL at the moment.
Also Read: PAK vs ENG: Watch: Babar Azam’s horror show continues, bowler fools him in practice game
Aakash Chopra names four possible retainers for SRH ahead of IPL 2025 mega auctions
While speaking in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra shared his views on SRH’s possible retentions ahead of IPL 2025.
He picked Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen and Abhishek Sharma as the players he can retain.
“They will retain Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen and Abhishek Sharma. I think these four should stay because they cannot be let go anywhere. They have a destructive team. The two left-handed openers come and make sixes and then Heinrich Klaasen comes and destroys,” Chopra said.
These four players had a fantastic IPL 2024 season. Head and Abhishek were a revolution with the bat as the opening pair, while Heinrich Klaasen was destructive with his bat in the middle order. Captain Pat Cummins was also excellent with his leadership skills and led SRH to the final.
Aakash Chopra excludes Bhuvneshwar Kumar
However, the former India opener did not include Aiden Markram in this list. Another surprising name that does not figure in this list is Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been associated with the franchise for over a decade.
“Aiden Markram, how many foreign players will they be able to retain? I don’t know what rule is going to be applied on the number of foreign players who can be retained. They will definitely try to retain these three-four names. I don’t think they will retain Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) because it is a three-year game. I feel the auction and retention is going to be very interesting this time,” Chopra added.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s contributions to Sunrisers Hyderabad
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a key component of SRH’s success over the years. In 2016, he won the Purple Cap by taking 23 wickets in the season and helped Sunrisers win the IPL title that year.
However, the last few years have been going downhill for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He picked up just 11 wickets in 16 matches in the IPL 2024 at an average of 48.45 and an economy rate of 9.35. This makes it unlikely that SRH will retain him for the upcoming season, though there are high chances that they will buy him back in the auction.
In total, he has taken 181 wickets in 176 matches at an average of 27.23 and an economy rate of 7.56.