Heinrich Klaasen retained by Sunrisers for more than R48 million

South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen edged cricket superstar Virat Kohli to become the most expensive player retained in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.

Sunrisers Hyderabad re-signed the hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman for $2.73 million (R48.24 million) alongside skipper Australians Pat Cummins and Travis Head.

The 33-year-old Klaasen amassed 479 runs including four half-centuries at a strike rate of over 171 in this year’s IPL as Hyderabad ended runners-up.

Klaasen surpassed the previous $2.02 million (R35.69m) paid by Royal Challengers Bengaluru to Kohli in 2017.

Kohli kept up his bond with Bengaluru for $2.5 million (R44.17m) in the lucrative T20 tournament as the retention deadline ended on Thursday at 1.30pm SA time.

Upcoming auction

Top Indian players including Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul have parted ways with their franchises to head into the mega auction, which is expected to be held next month.

Australia’s Mitchell Starc holds the auction record after Kolkata brought him for $2.98 million in December last year.

Pant left Delhi Capitals after he led the team in this year’s IPL following his return to competitive cricket from a serious car crash in December 2022.

Rahul was not among the list of players retained by Lucknow Super Giants, who kept West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran for $2.5 million.

Players released

Other top players on the auction table will be England’s Jos Buttler, who was not retained by Rajasthan Royals, and South African Faf du Plessis, out of Bengaluru.

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders released their skipper Shreyas Iyer but held onto the West Indies duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine.

Five-time winners Chennai extended their association with 43-year-old MS Dhoni, who comes in as an uncapped player after he retired from international cricket in 2020.

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians retained their top names including skipper Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav.

The 10-team IPL, which began in 2008, has transformed the global cricket economy and spawned other T20 league competitions around the world.