IPL 2025 Retention: List of Players Retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad Ahead of IPL Mega Auction Over The Years

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All eyes will be on Sunrisers Hyderabad come October 31 after the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council announced the much-awaited rules for retention alongside the other player regulations ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction.

While SRH wanted more retentions, the retention rule allows teams to only retain a total of 6 players from their existing squad either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) card. This also means teams can opt to release all their players and use the RTM cards at the auction.

However, there are certain conditions. The retention is limited to a maximum of 5 capped players (either Indian or overseas), and a maximum of 2 uncapped players. The uncapped rule also has a new twist with an old rule returning after three years.

The re-instated uncapped rule allows a capped Indian player to be considered uncapped, if he has not played in International Cricket or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI in the last five calendar years.

Many teams could benefit from that rule, but Sunrisers Hyderabad does not have any player from their 2024 squad that fall in that category. However, they do have many uncapped players in their group of players from last season.

Nitish Kumar Reddy was one such player, but after he made his India debut, SRH may have a little more harder task in regards to retentions as many players are tempting options. Three retentions is the sensible route they can take due to the price slabs for retention, but there is every chance they could also go in with 6 retentions.

SRH, who replaced Deccan Chargers in 2013, inherited most of the players from the defunct franchise and has always retained players in previous mega auctions. The same could be the case even this time as there are five players, who they can’t gamble on by releasing into the auction.

SRH's Likely Retentions For 2025

• Travis Head
• Abhishek Sharma
• Heinrich Klaasen
• Pat Cummins
• Nitish Kumar Reddy

SRH have been part of every IPL edition since they joined the league in 2013. They have participated in the retention process only ahead of three mega auction held so far in IPL history unlike seven other teams which were part of the league from the very first edition.

SRH won the IPL once in 2016 under the captaincy of David Warner and came close in the 2024 edition under the captaincy of Pat Cummins, who could become one of the retentions of the franchise which has often opted for change.

A mega auction has been held in 2011, 2014, 2018 and most recently in 2022, editions in which teams have gone through big changes. Here is a look at list of players who SRH retained ahead of those mega auctions.

SRH Retained Player List Before IPL 2011 Mega Auction

SRH was not part of the first-ever IPL mega auction in 2011 as they joined the league only in 2013, and participated in their first auction before the 2013 season, when they retained 20 players from the Deccan Chargers squad.

SRH Retained Player List Before IPL 2014 Mega Auction

Ahead of the 2014 IPL mega auction in 2011, SRH opted to retain two players in the form of Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan and South Africa pacer Dale Steyn. Dhawan, who would be named the first captain of SRH, was retained for Rs 12.50 Crore, while Steyn was retained for Rs 9.50 Crore.

At the auction, SRH used RTM cards to add future legends of the team, Australian opener David Warner for Rs 5.50 Crore and Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Rs 4.25 Crore.

SRH Retained Player List Before IPL 2018 Mega Auction

In 2018, SRH retained Warner for Rs 12 Crore, but lost Rs 12.50 Crore from their purse. They also retained Bhuvneshwar for Rs 8 Crore before reuniting the core at the auction by using the RTM card.

At the auction, SRH used the RTM card option to buy back some of their key players – Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan for Rs 5.20 Crore, uncapped India all-rounder Deepak Hooda for Rs 3.60 Crore and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan for Rs 9 Crore.

SRH Retained Player List Before IPL 2022 Mega Auction

In 2022 when two new teams joined the league, the Sunrisers made surprise calls as they retained only three players, including two uncapped players that had only joined the league lately. SRH opted to retain Kane Williamson for Rs 14 Crore, and Jammu & Kashmir duo Abdul Samad and Umran Malik for Rs 4 Crore each.