Selfless Pat Cummins Accepts Pay Cut To Afford Heinrich Klaasen As SRH's 1st Retention: Reports
Pat Cummins with Heinrich Klaasen [Source: @CricCrazyJohns]
According to emerging reports, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are all set to keep Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins and Abhishek Sharma as their top three retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. While Klaasen will likely be SRH's first retention pick for a whopping amount of INR 23 Crores, Cummins and Abhishek are slated to receive 18 and 14 Crore rupees from the franchise.
However, in a recent development, it has come to notice that it wasn't the SRH management but their skipper Pat Cummins who wanted Klaasen as their first retention heading into the auction. According to ESPN Cricinfo, several franchises were desperate to secure the explosive South African batter's services and approached him with lucrative offers amid the ongoing retention process.
But considering his outstanding returns in the IPL and red-hot recent form, Cummins was ready to take the pay cut so that SRH could retain Klaasen for INR 23 Crores, almost five times his current salary. As the Sunrisers had to settle five retentions using INR 75 crores, Cummins got two crores less than his current price, with Abhishek earning 14 crores.
Do Travis Head And Nitish Reddy Have A Future With SRH?
While Klaasen, Cummins and Abhishek's retentions have almost been confirmed, SRH hasn't taken a final call on Travis Head and Nitish Reddy. However, if reports are to be believed, these two players are the frontrunners to be their fourth and fifth retentions, with the franchise likely to show exit doors to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Aiden Markram. Nevertheless, with 55 crores spent on their top three retentions, SRH can only offer 20 crores to these two players.