'If Not Injury, Should be Banned': SRH CEO Kavya Maran's Harsh Call for Players Who Miss IPL After Being Picked in Auction

Sunrisers Hyderabad CEO Kavya Maran has called for a ban on players who fail to show up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after enrolling themselves at the auction. Kavya and SRH were reportedly quite unhappy with Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga pulling out of IPL 2024 citing an injury earlier this year.

Many thought that the primary reason behind the all-rounder pulling out was his low bid of Rs 1.5 crore. Speaking to Cricbuzz about problems such as these, Kavya said, “After being selected in the auction, if a player doesn’t come to play the season for any reason apart from injury, he should be banned.” While the SRH CEO called for strict action, she refrained from name-checking the Sri Lankan.

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Speaking further in the interview, Kavya Maran talked about the problems a franchise has to face if a player withdraws at the last moment. “The franchises put a lot of effort into the auction to form their combinations. If a player goes for a low amount in the auction and subsequently doesn’t turn up, it affects the combination and the balance of the side,” she said.

Given that Wanindu Hasaranga was allocated a salary of Rs 10 crore during his stint with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad had secured a good deal for the all-rounder at the IPL 2024 auction. But days after the auction in Dubai, the franchise was informed that Hasaranga would miss the tournament due to chronic heel pain in his left foot.

Announcing the update on X (formerly Twitter), the franchise had written, “Wanindu Hasaranga will be unavailable for the season due to injury. We would like to wish him a speedy recovery. Sri Lankan spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth has joined the squad as his replacement for the rest of IPL 2024.”

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In the same interview, Kavya Maran also touched on other topics. She had a strong point of view on money that is deducted from the salary of players who are retained by the franchises. She felt that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should not be the one to control the pay for these players. “The money deducted from the overall salary cap for pre-auction retentions must be an overall pot based on the number of players retained, and should not be individual amounts for first retention, second retention and so on,” she said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad were phenomenal in the IPL 2024 season, finishing as the runners-up after losing the final to the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Pat Cummins-led side was outclassed by the Kolkata-based franchise as they lost the summit clash by eight wickets.