Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Heinrich Klaasen celebrates his century during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 T20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo/Atul Yadav)

New Delhi: Retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 23 crore before the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction last season, explosive wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen could well be released into the pool ahead of the mini auction next month. While the SRH camp has remained tight-lipped over the former South Africa international, multiple IPL franchises have picked up serious chatter and have included him in their wishlist.Klaasen, 34, has announced his retirement from international cricket and even though he smashed 105 off 39 balls vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) – the franchise’s last game – in the 2025 edition of the cash-rich league, the brisk cameos didn’t convert into consistent big knocks. An ambitious retention at Rs 23 crore – bigger than skipper Pat Cummins’ Rs 18 crore price tag – Klaasen could well be released to beef up the purse and it will not be a surprise if SRH go aggressively for him again at the auction.

This would allow them to go into the auction with a fair shot at rebuilding their squad after finishing sixth in IPL 2025. It’s understood that the SRH thinktank are in a huddle with regards to their auction wishlist and are desperate to turn things around next season, especially after the poor returns in 2025, which followed the runners-up finish in 2024.“There are strong murmurs and it could well be a smart move by SRH if they do that. Going into the auction with Rs 23 crore more allows them a reasonable shot to fill in the crucial gaps – assemble a penetrating bowling attack and get their middle-order act right. They can even have a fair shot at getting the South African back (for) around Rs 15 crore and the balance can help them do some effective shopping,” says an industry source tracking developments.The other big buys for SRH were Mohammed Shami (Rs 10 crore) and Harshal Patel (Rs 8 crore), and both didn’t have the season they would have hoped for. While Shami battled fitness issues; Patel, even though he picked 16 wickets from 13 games, went at nearly 10-an-over. There has been an interest in Shami after his recent exploits in the domestic circuit but the franchises are likely to operate with caution. SRH, too, could follow a similar approach.

The Hyderabad-based franchise are desperate to add a quality spinner as they weren’t pleased with Rahul Chahar. The leggie played just one game but is learnt to have had underwhelming performances in the intra-squad games which forced the thinktank to play little-known Zeeshan Ansari in 10 games and then left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey.Klaasen, however, will remain the talking point before the retained list is finalised and multiple franchises are keeping a decent amount ready for the right-hander.