As per previous reports, it was learned that Klaasen, Cummins, and Abhishek were the top retentions for SRH ahead of the retention deadline on 31st October. As the threshold nears, the latest update is that all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and top-order swashbuckler Travis Head will be added to the list while an uncapped player might be availed by using ‘RTM’ during the auction.
This will complete their pool of five capped players for INR 75 Crore, leaving the Sun Group-owned franchise with INR 45 Crore at the auction. Also, the price slab set for Abhishek Sharma could be INR 14 Crore. The price slab for the fourth and fifth retention is INR 18 Crore and INR 14 Crore with the first, second, and third set for INR 18, 14, and 11 Crore respectively.
Head was bought for INR 6.8 Crore in the 2024 auction and delivered by amassing 567 runs at a strike rate of 191.55. He was influential in their no-holds-barred approach at the top of the order and helped SRH post gargantuan totals. Meanwhile, Nitish was the emerging player of the season, having accumulated 303 runs and scalped three wickets by bowling seam-up. Subsequently, he earned a national call-up and debuted for India, thereby making him a capped international.
SRH ended up being the runners-up of IPL 2024 after incurring a loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai. They would be hoping to retain their core group that propelled them to the main event of the glitterati tournament.
