Last Updated on 2 months by Charbel Coorey

Sunrisers Hyderabad were the runners-up of IPL 2024. They had the most explosive batting unit in the tournament and it reflected clearly in their performance.

The deadly opening duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma showed a completely different approach of batting; attacking from the first ball and not relenting. SRH scored 100 runs in just five overs in one of their games against the Delhi Capitals.

Not only this, Sunrisers now have the highest-ever score by a team in the IPL when they scored 287/3 against RCB. The second and fourth-highest team totals belong to SRH as well: 277/3 (against MI) and 266/7 (against DC) respectively and that too in the last season only.

The batting unit of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen broke many records in IPL 2024 but they still failed to win the title as KKR defeated them in the final to lift their 3rd IPL title. Now, it’s a big challenge for SRH as they had a very settled squad, and it’s going to be very difficult for them to decide which players they want to retain for IPL 2025.

Before talking about that, let’s first understand the retention rules for IPL 2025.

IPL 2025 Retention Rules

Teams can retain up to 6 Players through direct retentions or using the Right to Match (RTM). There is no limit for the retentions of overseas players but teams can retain a maximum of two uncapped players. Any Indian player who last played in International cricket 5+ years ago and has no central contract from the BCCI can be retained as an “uncapped player”.

RTMs will depend on the number of retentions (6 – No. of Players Retained). The salary caps for the retained players are:

• 1st Retention: 18 Crores
• 2nd Retention: 14 Crores
• 3rd Retention: 11 Crores
• 4th Retention: 18 Crores
• 5th Retention: 14 Crores
• Uncapped Player: 4 Crores

So teams will have to be cautious while retaining the 4th & 5th players as releasing them now and buying them back using the RTM may be a better deal as there aren’t many players who will fetch more than the amount they’ll be retained for.

Who SRH could retain for IPL 2025: Whom to Retain, Whom to Leave?

Travis Head

Travis Head has been in exceptional form across formats across the last 12-18 months. He’s been the most consistent batter and has performed everywhere he has played in recent times. Head scored 567 runs in 15 innings in IPL 2024 at an average of 40.50 and a strike rate of 191.55 including four fifties and a century.

Head turned the table on its head from the first game he played last season. It’s a no-brainer that Sunrisers Hyderabad will retain him for IPL 2025. Head provides that X-Factor at the top and can single-handedly win games on his day.

Abhishek Sharma

Abhishek Sharma had a stellar season in IPL 2024. He scored 484 runs in 16 innings at an average of 32.26 and an unbelievable strike rate of 204.21. He scored two fifties and hit 42 sixes and 36 fours in 16 games.

Abhishek is a useful left-arm orthodox bowler as well. He is young, bats very positively and there’s no way SRH will even think about letting him go in any condition. Abhishek Sharma will play for SRH in IPL 2025.

Nitish Kumar Reddy

IPL 2024 was when Nitish Reddy showed his class with the bat. Earlier he was with CSK as a net bowler. He then turned things around and scored 303 runs in 11 innings at an average of 33.66 and struck at 142.92 including a couple of fifties. He also picked up three wickets.

Nitish Reddy has now made his debut for India in T20Is and can’t be retained as an uncapped player now. A young domestic player who is excellent with the bat, can give 2-3 overs in any game, and is electric in the field is very rare and he’ll easily fetch at least 11 crores in the upcoming auction, if not more. I feel SRH should retain Nitish Kumar Reddy for 11 crores as their third retention.

Abdul Samad (Uncapped)

Abdul Samad has played only 39 innings in the IPL since his debut back in 2020. He’s an exciting prospect but we’ve seen only glimpses of what he can do with the bat.

He scored 182 runs in 12 innings in IPL 2024 (AVG: 18.2, SR: 168.50). Samad had a good season in 2023 where he scored 169 runs in 8 innings at an average of 42.20 at a strike rate of 132.

He likes to bat aggressively and can be a great option for SRH if he gets enough game time. Samad can also bowl part-time leg spin. He will be a good pick for 4 crores as he’s 22 years old and has been with SRH for five years.

4th and 5th Retentions Possible for SRH?

Now comes the tricky part for SRH. They have their skipper Pat Cummins who did a great job leading the side and then they have Heinrich Klaasen who’s one of the most destructive batters in the middle order. Both played vital roles in SRH’s success last year and are proven match-winners.

But the big question is are they worth retaining for 18 crores and 14 crores? If they decide to retain both it’ll cost them a big chunk of their purse which the SRH management would like to avoid going into a mega auction.

Pat Cummins (RTM)

SRH bought Pat Cummins for 20.50 crores for IPL 2024. He did a great job as the captain of the side but I feel the Sunrisers can get him back for less than that from the auction using RTM. T20 is not the best format for Pat Cummins and last season was his best one in the IPL: 18 wickets in 16 games at an economy of 9.28. He’s handy with the bat as well.

Cummins led the side to the finals after a few bad performances for the franchise in the past three years and SRH will look to have him as the skipper for IPL 2025. There are high chances that SRH will not let him go to the auction in the first place but I feel buying him back using the RTM will be the better option.

Heinrich Klaasen (RTM)

No one will expect that we’ll be talking about buying back Heinrich Klaasen using the RTM option instead of retaining him but such is the nature of the auction. Klaasen is among the best spin hitters and destructive batters in world cricket. He scored 479 runs in 15 matches at an average of 39.90 striking at 171.10 including four 50+ scores in IPL 2024.

Klaasen would be amongst the retentions in most of the other sides with the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy already there, it’s not affordable for SRH to retain Klaasen. But they can always get him back using the RTM and there’s no doubt that SRH will do that.

Apart from Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy with Abdul Samad as the uncapped player and Pat Cummins and Heinrich Klaasen as the RTM buys, there aren’t any players in the SRH squad who are worth retaining ahead of the mega auction.

Ideally, they’d like to retain all five of Head, Abhishek, Nitish, Cummins and Klaasen but as mentioned earlier, it’ll take a big chunk of their purse and since it’s the mega auction and SRH will have to build a whole new squad, it’s not feasible to retain all names mentioned here.