“Who’ll bowl the 20 overs for them?” - Kris Srikkanth slams former IPL champions’ strategy in 2026 auction

Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth slammed the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) for not focusing on their bowling frailties and signing Liam Livingstone in the IPL 2026 auction. Despite already boasting a powerful batting lineup, SRH made Livingstone their most expensive signing at ₹13 crore.

Yet, even after being let down by the bowlers predominantly last season, the Orange Army acquired no one with much IPL experience in the auction. Livingstone was part of the title-winning 2025 Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad but struggled with the bat, averaging only 16 in 10 matches.

Talking about SRH's auction plans on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said (42:45):

"Everyone let go of Livingstone at base price. If you had already decided to go for him, you could have pocketed him for 2 crores itself. Their batting lineup is great, but who'll bowl the 20 overs for them? Do SRH really need a player like Livingstone? They let go of Shami. Who's the replacement for Shami? They could have planned it better, but they already had a good side. Yet, we all say good side, but they didn't qualify last year. They were down in the dumps like CSK last year."

After a sensational 2024 season where they finished runners-up, SRH finished sixth and missed the playoffs in IPL 2025.

"They did not address their middle-order issues at all" - Kris Srikkanth on GT's IPL 2026 auction

Kris Srikkanth expressed surprise at the Gujarat Titans' lack of addressing their middle-order issues from last season in the IPL 2026 auction. The former opener believes GT should have gone after Livingstone instead of SRH.

GT's top three, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler, did the bulk of the scoring for the side in the 2025 season.

"They did not address their middle-order issues at all. Last season they qualified only because of their top three. They should have also targeted specific players like KKR for covering their middle-order issues. Are there no good middle-order batters at all around the world? Actually, Livingstone would have been an ideal fit for them," said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

GT signed only five players in the auction, with West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder being their most expensive signing at ₹7 crore. The 2022 champions qualified for the playoffs last season but were eliminated by the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Eliminator.

Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran