"Can you convince Pat Cummins for 3 more years?"- Aakash Chopra on SunRisers Hyderabad's potential retentions ahead of IPL 2025 auction
Aakash Chopra reckons the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) need to retain Pat Cummins ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. He added that the franchise might have to convince the Australian Test and ODI skipper to continue leading them for the next three years.
SRH finished last in IPL 2023 under Aiden Markram's captaincy. They acquired Cummins for a whopping ₹20.50 crore at the IPL 2024 auction and appointed him their skipper. The move yielded rich dividends as they were the runners-up in the recently concluded season.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Cummins should be SunRisers Hyderabad's first retention.
"It's absolutely mandatory to retain Pat Cummins because there are 10 teams in the IPL, and you don't get a captain. You have to go shopping for a captain and too many Indian names aren't available, and those who are there aren't released. So it is going to be an interesting one. Can you convince Pat Cummins for three more years?" he said (3:15).
Chopra chose Abhishek Sharma as the second player SRH should retain.
"I will keep Abhishek Sharma at No. 2 because you won't get an Indian talent like Abhishek Sharma. There is a lot of value in Indian retentions because it won't be that easy to pick such players again at the auction. They will be very expensive and when you have seen someone doing so well with you, keep him, why should you release him?" Chopra elaborated.
Abhishek was the SunRisers Hyderabad's second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2024. His 484 runs at a strike rate of 204.21 in 16 innings were only behind Travis Head's 567-run tally.
"I will want to retain Travis Head but my third player will be Heinrich Klaasen" - Aakash Chopra on the other players SunRisers Hyderabad should hold on to
![Heinrich Klaasen amassed 479 runs at a strike rate of 171.07 in 15 innings in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/05/d1775-17171251302211-1920.jpg?w=500)
Aakash Chopra reckons the SunRisers Hyderabad should retain Heinrich Klaasen ahead of Travis Head as their second overseas player, with the latter potentially being reacquired with the 'Right to Match' card.
"I will want to retain Travis Head but my third player will be Heinrich Klaasen. You can get other players for the position at which Travis Head bats but the position at which Heinrich Klaasen bats - Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell and Heinrich Klaasen. So I will want to retain Heinrich Klaasen," he reasoned (4:10).
"After that comes Travis Head, but will they be able to retain 3 overseas players? You might have to use the 'Right to Match' card for Travis Head but do it, it's okay. Between Klaasen and Travis Head, I will go with Klaasen. I will leave Travis Head," the cricketer-turned- commentator added.
Chopra opined that SRH might have to choose between Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan as their second Indian retention.
"I might or might not retain Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Actually, I might let him go, although his performance has been very good. He is 34 and will become 37. He has collected a lot of bowling miles. So he might not remain that penetrative for three years," he stated.
"T Natarajan can remain (penetrative), although he is not very young either. He is 33 but has not bowled enough number of overs for the juice to have finished. So there, T Natarajan or Bhuvneshwar Kumar, an attempt to retain one of them, or else I might want to hold on to them through the 'Right to Match' card," the former KKR player added.
With 19 scalps in 14 innings, Natarajan was the SunRisers Hyderabad's most successful bowler in IPL 2024. Bhuvneshwar, who accounted for 11 dismissals in 16 games, was the franchise's third-highest wicket-taker behind Natarajan and Cummins (18).