Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the finalists of the IPL 2024, have reportedly finalized their five retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. SRH is set to retain 3 overseas and 2 Indian players including captain Pat Cummins, keeper Heinrich Klaasen and Abhishek Sharma.

In the process of building a team for the next few years, SRH is likely to also retain opener Travis Head and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. Reddy has played only two seasons in the Indian Premier League. The player was bought by SRH in the 2023 auction for just Rs 20 lakh.

He was supposed to be SRH’s uncapped retention, but Reddy made his India T20I debut recently against Bangladesh. He performed well including a knock of 74 in 34 balls and taking two wickets in Delhi T20I.

Heinrich Klaasen, rather than Pat Cummins, is expected to be the team's first retention. Klaasen is a sought-after commodity on the T20 circuit, thanks to his exceptional batting against spin.

Under Pat Cummins' leadership, SRH was able to reverse its fortunes and reach the IPL final for the first time since 2018. Much of the success was credited to Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who were able to break the shackles and form outstanding partnerships for the opening wicket.

While Head scored 567 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of 191.55, his opening partner Sharma got 484 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 204.21, and Klaasen ended up with 479 runs in 16  matches at a strike rate of 191.55.

Pat Cummins took 18 wickets in 16 games for SRH with the ball, while showing amazing captaincy skills.

The deadline to announce the retentions for all franchises is October 31, 2024. The IPL auction is expected to be held in the final week of November at an overseas venue.

(India Today report)