Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra added that the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) would hope that Nitish Kumar Reddy remains uncapped until October 31. It would then allow them to retain him for ₹4 crore as an uncapped player as well. Reddy has been named in India’s squad for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, starting on October 6 as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “They would be praying that Nitish Kumar Reddy remains uncapped. They would be saying – ‘Please don’t play him in the T20I series’. Just like Harshit Rana, his name is also there in that team and if he gets a chance to play, he will also become capped. They have to firstly retain the captain and Abhishek Sharma. You have to retain Heinrich Klaasen and it’s great if you can get Travis Head. These four names come to my mind, to begin with. Pat Cummins, since he is the captain, and he managed the team very well, you will want to retain him.”
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He also added that Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Travis Head should be SRH’s preferred capped retentions as well. Chopra further added that Abhishek needs to be retained as he was SRH’s second-highest run-getter in IPL 2024. He smashed 484 runs at a strike rate of 204.21 in 16 innings as well.
“Abhishek Sharma is a no-brainer. If Abhishek Sharma goes into the auction, he can go from 10 to 18 crores, he can go to any amount. So retain him as well. Abhishek Sharma will be my second pick,” he said.
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In the same video, Aakash Chopra added that the SunRisers Hyderabad should retain Heinrich Klaasen and Travis Head, although neither might be sold for 14 crores at the auction as well.
“After that, Heinrich Klaasen and Travis Head. If Travis Head or Heinrich Klaasen go into the auction, I don’t think both of them will go for 14 crores, although I rate both of them very highly, especially Heinrich Klaasen. Ideally, if you can retain them, do that. Retain four players somehow, among which three will be overseas,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
