Former India player turned coach Anil Kumble shared his surprise at the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) spending a huge amount on England all-rounder Liam Livingstone at the IPL 2026 auction. He also questioned the need to buy another batter despite having overseas players such as Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen in their squad as well.
Speaking on JioStar’s Tata IPL auction review, he said (via ANI): “Spending ₹13 crore becomes an interesting call when you already have a bowling captain in Pat Cummins, who bats lower down the order, along with Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen — three overseas slots that are almost fixed. SRH also needed a spin option, and instead they went for another batter.”
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“I think Liam Livingstone, as a buy, certainly makes sense in a T20 line-up, irrespective of his performances last season with RCB. He’s the kind of player who can change a game in just a few overs; that’s the way he bats. On top of that, he’s extremely flexible — he can open, bat at No. 3, or play in the middle order. Clearly, SRH are backing themselves to take the game away from the opposition with their batting. They’ve done that in the past, so this seems to be very much in line with their approach,” he again added.
Meanwhile, former India batter Robin Uthappa was also surprised by a few of SRH’s decisions at the IPL 2026 auction as well.
He said (via IANS): “The question is where does Liam Livingstone fit into this line-up? You already have Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins, and Eshan Malinga occupying overseas slots. Are they planning to chase every game? Or are they accepting that their bowling lacks depth, especially with some bowlers being in the latter stages of their careers? The youth factor in the bowling unit just isn’t there right now.”
“Nothing has really changed. SRH have taken a clear stand; they want to win the championship on the back of their batting, at full tilt. If you look at this auction and the way they’ve gone about it, they’ve stayed true to that narrative. They haven’t gone after an Indian bowler who could support Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, or Jaydev Unadkat. We know Harshal can pick up wickets, but he can also be expensive. The same goes for Unadkat. Pat Cummins is the only bowler who can consistently hold one end. Nitish Reddy is still developing as an all-rounder, so how much responsibility will he get? SRH are batting like they want to breach 300 every game,” Uthappa concluded.
