After finishing as runners-up in the Indian Premier League 2024 season, Sunrisers Hyderabad had an underwhelming outing this year as they failed to qualify for the play-offs and ended up finishing sixth in the IPL table.
A star-studded team led by Pat Cummins could not perform to their best, despite showing early promise in the season.
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Ahead of a brand new season of the IPL, SRH, of course, will look to preserve their core while freeing up financial flexibility to chase high-impact players at the upcoming mini auction.
SRH released players ahead of IPL 2026 mini-auction
Mohammed Shami has already been traded to LSG and won't be part of the franchise's options for release or retention.
With Shami's, SRH has already freed up 10 Cr in the purse, and Simarjeet Singh is the other pacer released. Spinners Adam Zampa and Rahul Chahar have also been let go before the mini auction.
MORE: IPL 2026 trade deals: Full list of player trades and cash deals ahead of IPL 2026 mini auction
Despite a hefty price tage of INR 23 crore, SRH chose to keep Heinrich Klaasen for the next season.
| No. | Players released |
|---|---|
| 1 | Abhinav Manohar |
| 2 | Atharva Taide |
| 3 | Sachin Baby |
| 4 | Wiaan Mulder |
| 5 | Mohammed Shami (traded to LSG) |
| 6 | Simarjeet Singh |
| 7 | Rahul Chahar |
| 8 | Adam Zampa |
SRH retained players ahead of IPL 2026 mini-auction
SRH are expected to retain a core group of players, which includes captain Pat Cummins, star openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, and explosive Indian wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan.
| No. | Players retained |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pat Cummins |
| 2 | Travis Head |
| 3 | Abhishek Sharma |
| 4 | Nitish Reddy |
| 5 | Ishan Kishan |
| 6 | Harshal Patel |
| 7 | Harsh Dubey |
| 8 | Zeeshan Ansari |
| 9 | Aniket Verma |
| 10 | Eshan Malinga |
| 11 | Wiaan Mulder |
| 12 | R Smaran |
| 13 | Kamindu Mendis |
| 14 | Brydon Carse |
| 15 | Heinrich Klaasen |
| 16 | Jaydev Unadkat |
SRH current squad before IPL 2026 auction
| No. | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pat Cummins |
| 2 | Travis Head |
| 3 | Abhishek Sharma |
| 4 | Nitish Reddy |
| 5 | Ishan Kishan |
| 6 | Harshal Patel |
| 7 | Harsh Dubey |
| 8 | Zeeshan Ansari |
| 9 | Aniket Verma |
| 10 | Eshan Malinga |
| 11 | Wiaan Mulder |
| 12 | R Smaran |
| 13 | Kamindu Mendis |
| 14 | Brydon Carse |
| 15 | Heinrich Klaasen |
| 16 | Jaydev Unadkat |
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