New Delhi, Oct 25 (IANS) Former Australia cricketer Tom Moody picked Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins, openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, and Heinrich Klaasen as front-runners to be retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Moody, who has coached SRH in two different stints between 2013 to 2022, backed the core players of the franchise to be retained after finishing as runners-up of the 2024 season.

Head, Abhishek and Klaasen were the top run-getters for the side in the memorable season and played a key role in their campaign to the final. Head scored 567 runs including a century and four fifties while Abhishek hammered 484 runs with the help of three half-centuries. Klaasen accumulated 479 runs in the season including four half-centuries.

"When I look at SRH, they’ve got one of the tougher jobs among franchises during this retention period. At the top, I’d look to secure captain Pat Cummins, followed by Travis Head and then Abhishek Sharma," Moody told Star Sports.

The Australian further added that all-rounders Nitish Reddy (the fourth-highest run-getter for the franchise in 2024) and Abdul Samad, who scored 182 runs in the last season at a strike rate of 168.51, should also be considered for retention.

"I’d extend it even further, which would be costly, but I think it’s worth it to retain a player of Heinrich Klaasen’s calibre. Then there’s Nitish Reddy, who has recently been capped, and I believe they must secure him before he enters the auction. Among uncapped players, I’d definitely consider Abdul Samad, who is a rare talent. He’s a powerful hitter who can come into the middle order and change the game," he added.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises can retain a total of six players from their existing squad. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option. The six retentions/RTMs can have a maximum of five capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of two uncapped players.

The auction purse for the franchises has been set at Rs 120 crore for IPL 2025. The last date for the franchises to finalise their retention list is October 31.