‘Won’t give him 18 crores’- Aakash Chopra feels SRH will not retain Pat Cummins

With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction quickly approaching, supporters are eager to find out which players will be kept by their teams in advance of the sale. Sunrisers Hyderabad, the IPL 2024 finalists, are the focus of much attention. Regarding their retention strategies, SRH faces challenges because they have a number of elite players on their team.

The captain Pat Cummins is one of the players they intend to keep. In the IPL 2024 auction, Cummins was acquired by SRH for INR 20.5 crore. But according to Aakash Chopra, a former cricket player for India, SRH would not be interested in keeping Cummins for INR 18 crore, which is the amount a team must pay for their first and fourth retention.

Following Cummins’ recent remarks in which the Australia ODI and Test captain stated that playing red-ball cricket for Australia is still his first priority, Chopra made the remarks.

The Ashes and World Cups are the tentpoles, and it’s acceptable if the IPL falls somewhere in between. Pat Cummins has stated that he is unsure if he would attend the IPL or not because of other obligations, that it’s a never-ending treadmill, that it’s challenging, and that the priorities are different. Additionally, Chopra stated in a video posted to his YouTube account that “new rules have come.”

He even mentioned that he has never missed, but after placing his name in the auction, he has never returned. But players like Mitchell Starc are no longer there. He won’t be retained by SunRisers Hyderabad, in my opinion. They refuse to give him the 18 crores.

Also Read: ‘Playing Test matches for Australia is my number one priority’- Pat Cummins discusses new IPL rules

“I feel that way, even though he did a good job bowling and captaining,” Chopra continued. Interestingly, the IPL teams would have to pay INR 18 crore, 14 crore, and 11 crore for the first three capped retentions.