IPL 2025: Why SRH retained Nitish Kumar Reddy at a surprising price? | EXPLAINED

During the thrilling 4th Test between India and Australia, Australia was all out for 474 runs in their first innings. India, starting their first innings, reached 358 runs for the loss of 9 wickets at the end of Day 3. At one stage, India was struggling at 221/6, but 21-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy, coming in at number 8, smashed the Australian fast bowlers and scored a sensational century to rescue the team.

Having scored a century in his first Test series, Nitish Kumar Reddy has become a global talking point. This makes him a player to watch in IPL 2025. But did you know that Nitish Kumar Reddy, who plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, lost crores of rupees because of a South African player?

Retained for Rs 6 Crore.

Due to his excellent performance in first-class cricket, Nitish Kumar Reddy was picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20 lakhs in the last IPL auction. In IPL 2024, he scored 303 runs in 13 matches, including two fifties, and also took 3 wickets. This led to Sunrisers Hyderabad retaining him for Rs 6 crore in the IPL auction held last November.

Before this auction, Nitish Kumar Reddy was selected for the Indian squad for the Australian Test series. Due to his place in the Indian team and his all-rounder skills in T20s, he was expected to fetch over Rs 10 crore in the auction. However, Sunrisers Hyderabad retaining him for Rs 6 crore came as a surprise.

Couldn't Allocate More

Initially, Sunrisers planned to retain Nitish Kumar Reddy for Rs 11 crore. However, it is said that they couldn't allocate a higher amount to Reddy because they spent Rs 23 crore to retain South African player Heinrich Klaasen. With Rs 119 crore at their disposal, Sunrisers Hyderabad spent Rs 69 crore on four players: Heinrich Klaasen (Rs 23 crore), captain Pat Cummins (Rs 18 crore), Abhishek Sharma (Rs 14 crore), and Travis Head (Rs 14 crore). This left them with a limited budget for the remaining players.

Loss of Crores Due to Heinrich Klaasen.

If Sunrisers Hyderabad had bought Heinrich Klaasen for four or five crores less, the remaining amount could have gone to Nitish Kumar Reddy, and he could have been retained for Rs 10 or Rs 11 crore. However, Hyderabad was determined to acquire the explosive batsman Heinrich Klaasen at any cost, resulting in Nitish Kumar Reddy losing out on a few crores because of Klaasen.