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England all-rounder Liam Livingstone drops back-to-back shocking allegations after the conclusion of the IPL 2026 season. In a recent conversation, he claims that the owners of the Sunrisers Hyderabad influenced the team selection.
Liam Livingstone was a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2026 season. The franchise acquired his services for a handsome price tag of INR 13 crore. Despite investing heavy on the overseas cricketer, the team allowed him to play only a couple of matches.
Liam Livingstone drops shocking claims on SRH team selection process
IPL 2026 was a better-to-forget season for the 32-year-old spin bowling all-rounder, who is mostly known for smashing big shots. In those two matches, he scored 1 and 14, respectively. From the allegations made by Liam Livingstone, it is clear that he is not happy at all with the franchise.
In a recent podcast, Livingstone claims that the owners of the Sunrisers Hyderabad influenced the team selection. According to the all-rounder, he went to the head coach Daniel Vettori to seek clarification on why he had not been included in the playing combinations.
'The owners love this lad'
“He was like, 'The owners love this lad. When Cummins comes back in, we are not going to change our thing'. Which is great. I knew that I was not going to play unless somebody got injured. So then it's a completely different mindset when you know, you are not going to play,” Liam Livingstone says.
Livingstone mentioned a particular uncapped Indian player, Salil Arora, who joined the franchise for INR 1.5 crore, who scored 156 runs in 14 matches in IPL 2026. Livingstone believes that the franchise owners were determined to play Arora in most of the matches.
"I think there are like three ways of the IPL. You are locked in, and everything is kind of set out for you. There's like a fringe: you may or may not play. And your thoughts are, 'If I play, this is how it's going to go.' And like me, this year, when I went there, we got a lad (Salil Arora) in the auction that the Mumbai Indians really wanted,” Livingstone said in a podcast.
“We had more money, so we ended up getting him. The owners loved him. So he was locked into play for us. When we didn't have Cummins, we were playing only three overseas players. So I asked Dan (Vettori), " Why are we playing only three overseas?" he raised the question.
David Lloyd, who was on the podcast, asks what are the expertise the owners of the Sunrisers Hyderabad have. In response, Alastair Cook says, “A lot of money.”
England cricket legends join the conversation in the podcast
Cricket fans know that Kavya Maran is one of the owners of the franchise, who was spotted in attendance during the matches and is recognized as one of the most passionate owners in the franchise.
Livingstone has doubts about whether the owners fully made the calls, but he is sure that they definitely expressed their opinions.
“I don't know if they call the shots fully, but they obviously have a say. But I guess the biggest thing for me this year from Dan Vettori was that he told me what was happening. I knew,” Liam Livingstone mentions.
Read More: Liam Livingstone's IPL future in doubt after brutal attack on 'boring' tournament and flat pitches
