The Orange Army acquired 10 players in the IPL 2026 auction.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad have come out of the IPL 2026 auction as one of the most successful teams. The franchise went into the auction with a proper plan and managed to acquire their choice of players. That being said, a crucial overseas all-rounder would be tough to include in the SRH best XI.
The most expensive player bought by the 2016 champions was Liam Livingstone, with the franchise dishing out INR 13 crore for the English all-rounder. He was released by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Though the franchise lifted their maiden IPL trophy, Livingstone could not contribute a lot to their success with a dismal season.
Salil Arora and Shivam Mavi are a couple of exciting names that were picked by the franchise in the IPL 2026 auction. Arora is a lower-middle-order batter from Punjab who can tonk the ball a long distance. Mavi, on the other hand, has been away from the game due to injuries, but he has been picked by the franchise for INR 75 lakh. The majority of the core has been the same for the Orange Army in the lead-up to the 19th IPL edition.
Having said that, the SRH best XI might not feature Liam Livingstone if they don’t make certain alterations in the combination. The English all-rounder was not at his best in the last edition, but the management will be aware of the damage he can cause if he gets to his best. However, accommodating him in the playing XI might be an uphill task.
Upon having a first look at the squad for the class of 2026, there aren’t any major changes. The biggest talking point in the lead-up to the auction was their release of Mohammed Shami. Most of their players who were retained are expected to take the same slot that they had occupied in the last season, barring a couple of new entrants.
The top-three batters for Sunrisers Hyderabad would be one of the last things that the franchise would want to change. All three batters have been producing sumptuous results in the past, and the team would like to stick with them. That being said, Smaran Ravichandran is also expected to grab a spot in the playing XI, on the back of his prolific batting performances in domestic cricket.
Heinrich Klaasen and Aniket Verma will have the hard-hitting prowess covered up, like they always have been. The latter had a terrific season in the last edition of the IPL and will be looking to replicate the same in the 19th edition of the coveted tournament. This is where Liam Livingstone could be a good fit, but he is not expected to be starting right from game one.
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The 2016 champions have a settled playing XI, with back-ups for almost every position in the squad. That being said, there are two possibilities via which they can include Liam Livingstone in the XI. One of the greatest advantages if they manage to include the all-rounder would be that their hitting prowess would go up multiple-fold. However, there would be a bit of uncertainty in the air as well.
One way to include Livingstone is to go via the Eshan Malinga route. The Orange Army can straight away bring Livingstone in by replacing him with Malinga and bringing in another Indian pacer in Shivam Mavi. However, Malinga has been instrumental in providing crucial breakthroughs for the team, and Pat Cummins would want him in the playing XI, at least to start with.
Another possibility would go through the Heinrich Klaasen way. But for that to happen, the South African wicketkeeper-batter would have to go through a dismal season, which the franchise would not hope for. If that happens, Livingstone can come in for Klaasen, with the wicketkeeping duties shifting to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 winning skipper, Ishan Kishan.
Either way, the SRH best XI already looks balanced. After the explosive power at the top of the order, they will somehow have to manage keeping the run-flow intact towards the later stages of the innings as well. For that, the batters in the lower-middle order will have to take maximum responsibility, because the top-order won’t provide the team with good starts in every game.
The bowling setup looks quite settled as well, with Pat Cummins leading the attack. Harshal Patel has enough ability to bowl at the death, with his slower deliveries being extremely difficult to pick because of his consistent arm speed. For the Sunrisers Hyderabad to have a good season, players like Nitish Reddy and Aniket Verma will also have to ace their roles.
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