Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said that the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) will have a tough job to assemble a formidable team for IPL 2025. He added that they need at least six more Indians, including an Impact Player, to complete their playing combination, and have a limited budget available as well. However, SRH spent ₹75 crore to retain Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins, Abhishek
Sharma, Travis Head, and Nitish Kumar Reddy before the IPL 2025 auction and now they have a remaining purse of ₹45 crore ahead of the auction.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “They have the least overseas slots available now because they have retained three – Pat Cummins, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen. All three are going to be part of the XI, which is a good thing, but it is also not that great a thing because now you have ₹45 crore left with you. You have to create your entire team for ₹45 crore in which you need at least six more Indian players because you have only two. You won’t get six good quality Indian players at the auction for ₹45 crore.”
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In the same video, Aakash Chopra also stated that the SunRisers Hyderabad won’t be able to afford the likes of Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer as well.
“This will be the team that will keep watching when Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul come in the auction. They might wait for Devdutt Padikkal. They won’t be able to afford Shreyas Iyer. They will lift the paddle for some time and then leave him,” he said. “They might lift the paddle many times but won’t be able to afford any top-tier Indian player. Mumbai also spent ₹75 crore but they have kept five Indians. No overseas will go for ₹25 crore now and even if he goes, you will get a replacement for him.”
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“However, you get very few Indian players in the auction as no one leaves them, and whoever comes becomes very expensive. So I see this team getting formed in an interesting fashion next year. You might get overseas players cheap but Indian players will take a lot of money. So your task is going to be very difficult,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
