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Former Australian cricket team star Tom Moody was left a bit surprised by Sunrisers Hyderabad paying Rs 11.25 Crore to buy Ishan Kishan in the IPL 2025 Auction. The wicket-keeper batter, who was released by Mumbai Indians, was left out of the BCCI central contracts and has not played for India in the past year. However, Sunrisers went hard for his services and ended up breaching the Rs 10-crore mark to add him to their side for IPL 2025. Moody said that with SRH already having Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma as a set opening duo, Kishan's addition was 'flawed' in his opinion.
"Yes, well it's flawed mate. I didn't see that coming, did not see that coming. We tried to get him four years ago and failed. I think we pushed Mumbai Indians back then right up to 15.5 crore, I think it was, way beyond their budget. But look again, a dynamic player, Sunrisers again are going to be playing a few shots at top of the order, aren't they", Moody said on ESPNCricinfo.
Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori was most excited about securing Ishan Kishan on day one of the IPL mega auction here but admitted that losing T Natarajan to Delhi Capitals was a loss.
Kishan, who made his name at the Mumbai Indians, was sold to SRH for Rs 11.25 crore on Sunday. The left-arm batter has had a tumultuous year, having lost his place in the Indian team as well as a BCCI central contract for defying the board's diktat to play domestic cricket. However, he is back playing Ranji Trophy.
SRH bought as many as eight players on day one including pacers Mohammed Shami (Rs 10 crore) and Harshal Patel (Rs 8 crore). However, they were not able to buy back T Natarajan and Vettori said nobody could offset the loss of the left-arm pacer.
SRH had retained five players ahead of the auction including skipper Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Reddy.
"Nothing sets off Nattu's loss (smiles). Every team goes through it, whether you try and find the players early and...pounce on opportunities or you try and wait for the back end," said Vettori in a media interaction.
Natarajan was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 10.75 crore.
(With PTI inputs)