Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have retained their most expensive player, Heinrich Klaasen, ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction scheduled for December 16. Despite speculation that the South African wicketkeeper-batter might be released, SRH have held onto Klaasen at his 2025 auction price of Rs 23 crore.
Retained & Ready to #PlayWithFire again 🔥#TATAIPL2026 pic.twitter.com/kuH062Us2z
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) November 15, 2025
The 2024 IPL finalists have also released leg-spinners Adam Zampa and Rahul Chahar, all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, Indian finisher Abhinav Manohar, and other players including Atharva Taide, Sachin Baby, Mohammed Shami, and Smarjeet Singh. With these moves, the franchise now enters the auction with Rs 25.5 crore in their purse.
SRH head coach Daniel Vettori said, “We wanted to keep the nucleus together and are happy with the way the core players performed. Retaining Klaasen ensures continuity while leaving sufficient budget to target quality players who may not have fit elsewhere. We hope to strengthen the squad as the auction approaches.”
SRH Retained Players for IPL 2026: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, B Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Pat Cummins, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals (RR) have reshuffled their squad following the high-profile trade of Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in exchange for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. The franchise released Sri Lankan spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana, Afghanistan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi, and other players including Kunal Rathore, Ashok Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya, and Akash Madhwal.
Retained and RReady to Halla Bol in 2026. 🔥💗 pic.twitter.com/0una5DXdYk
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) November 15, 2025
Samson joins CSK at Rs 18 crore, Jadeja’s revised fee is Rs 14 crore, and Curran moved to RR at Rs 2.4 crore. Post these changes, RR will enter the auction with a purse of Rs 16.05 crore.
RR Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara said, “Trading Donovan Ferreira for Nitish Rana gives us a versatile finisher with the ability to attack both spin and pace, while allowing us flexibility in managing the purse and experimenting with squad combinations.”
Rajasthan Royals Retained Players for IPL 2026: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Luhan de Pretorius, Shubham Dube, Donovan Ferreira (trade from DC), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja (trade from CSK), Sam Curran, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Kewna, Mapahka, Yudhvir Singh.
(With ANI inputs)