Why Will SRH's Nitish Reddy Earn Only 6 Crore For IPL 2025 Despite Playing For India?
Nitish Reddy is expected to be retained by SRH ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction (@PatCummins3O/X.com)
IPL 2025 retention deadline is set to expire on October 31, and last year’s runners-up, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), are likely to retain as many as 5 players. Interestingly, all-rounder Nitish Reddy, despite being a capped player, could earn a maximum of INR 6 crores.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) found a winning combination after several years of fallouts in auctions as they finished as runners-up in IPL 2024. As a result, the owners were reportedly reluctant to lower the retention count during a meeting with the IPL governing council. With the limit now set to 6, SRH are considering retaining as many as five capped players, thus exhausting the capped category quota.
As reported by ESPNCricinfo, SRH will most likely retain Heinrich Klaasen for INR 23 crores, followed by Pat Cummins for INR 18 crore. Then for third retention, SRH will go for Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore) with Travis Head being the fourth retention for INR 14 crores.
IPL 2025: Nitish Reddy taking a pay cut for Klaasen?
Interestingly, Nitish Kumar Reddy will also be retained but he is taking a pay cut for INR 6 crores despite being a capped player. He made his debut for India earlier this year and had an impressive outing against Bangladesh in the T20I series.
He also won the Emerging Player Award last IPL season with 303 runs and three wickets. Not only that, Reddy is also selected for the upcoming Test tour against Australia.
Notably, Nitish Reddy’s pay is directly influenced by Heinrich Klaasen’s salary. The salary slab for first retention is set at INR 18 crores by the IPL governing council. But SRH has apparently decided to raise his stakes to INR 23 cores, resulting in reduction in Reddy’s salary.
All franchises can spend a maximum of INR 75 crores on capped players. Hence, in summary, Nitish Reddy’s money is being paid to Heinrich Klaasen, thus making him the richest retained player in IPL’s history.
Indeed, Klaasen’s salary bracket has raised many eyebrows but his presence in the lineup is equally impactful. But whether justice is done to Reddy or not, is a debatable topic.