SRH Retained and Released players list for IPL 2026: Full Sunrisers Hyderabad squad ahead of the auction
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Another major franchise was surrounded by much speculation around some of its big-budget players, but the SRH owners have retained most of their players. Often known for their all-out-before-the-auction approach, the Sunrisers, despite retaining most players, will enter the mini-auction with the third-highest purse.
After having made a poor start to the IPL 2025 season, the Sunrisers Hyderabad lost 6 of their first 8 games and were knocked out of the tournament, but made a shocking return with four back-to-back wins after the IPL resumed following a brief halt.
However, they could only manage to finish 6th on the points table with just 13 points after their final two games were one washed out and the other led to a crushing defeat.
SRH prove speculations wrong with retention of big-budget players
Sources associated with several media streams first suggested that Ishan Kishan and Mohammed Shami are among the two big names to be released by the SRH side ahead of the mini-auction. The Shami news did not go wrong, but Kishan never seemed to be in the scheme of things.
The social media rumours heightened when the buzz surrounded Heinrich Klaasen's release by the runners-up from the 2024 season. Klaasen was so crucial a player in the SRH side that Pat Cummins reduced his price slot to retain the South African back in 2025.
Even for Harshal Patel, the INR 8 crore bid in the mega-auction did not have the best of his season's bowling for SRH, but he still managed to be their highest wicket-taker in the season and has been retained accordingly.
SRH Retained Players
Despite several claims that SRH was releasing the likes of Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, or Harshal Patel, the Sunrisers have not parted ways with any of the above-mentioned cricketers.
Ishan was bought in for a whopping INR 11.25 crore from the mega-auction and had a decent season with the Sunrisers, though it was not to the maximum of his potential. Klaasen, on the other hand, was SRH's highest scorer in the 2023 and 2025 seasons and the most destructive middle-order batter in the recent T20I circuit.
SRH Retained Players for IPL 2026: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, R Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Pat Cummins (C), Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, and Zeeshan Ansari
SRH released players ahead of IPL mini-auction
The Sunrisers Hyderabad's most shocking release came days before the original retention date arrived. Not only did they get rid of Mohammed Shami, who was not a fancy performer for them last season, but they also gathered a huge fortune from an all-cash trade deal with the Lucknow Super Giants.
The other released players, especially Abhinav Manohar, were expected to fire last season but failed miserably, while Rahul Chahar and Adam Zampa could not be dependable spinners in the team.
SRH Released Players List: Abhinav Manohar, Atharva Taide, Sachin Baby, Wiaan Mulder, Simarjeet Singh, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa, and Mohammed Shami.
