It is time to shrug off a disappointing Ranji Trophy season and look ahead to the more lucrative and high-profile Indian Premier League (IPL). This seems to be thinking of the current Hyderabad Ranji squad, under-19 players and also those who are out of the selectors’ radar.
India discard Pragyan Ojha, who has been asked to report to the accredited bowling correction centre in Chennai and had to miss the last few Ranji games, tops the list of prospective contenders from Hyderabad, making himself available for a base price of Rs.50 lakh. The 28-year-old left-arm spinner has been a member of two IPL winning teams – Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians.
Another prominent name is 31-year-old Tirumalasetty Suman, also a member of the IPL-winning Deccan Chargers team, besides having played for Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors. Among youngsters, 21-year-old Hanuma Vihari (earlier of Sunrisers Hyderabad), 23-year-old Akshath Reddy (Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad) who hit three Ranji centuries this season, season debutant Tanmay Agarwal (with two Ranji centuries), one match off-spinner A.I. Harsha, left-arm spinners Mehdi Hasan and A. Lalith Mohan, are the hopefuls.
“All the players have forwarded their request through the Hyderabad Cricket Association. And as we have a home franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad, the optimism amongst the players is understandable despite the lows in the Ranji Trophy this year,” an HCA official said.
The complete list of players from Hyderabad who have made themselves available for the IPL auction are Pragyan Ojha (capped - Rs. 50 lakh base price), Hanuma Vihari, Tirumalasetty Suman (uncapped), Rs. 10 lakh - Tanmay Agarwal, Habeeb Ahmed, B. Anirudh, Akash Bhandari, A.I. Harsha, Syed Mehdi Hasan, Mohammed Abdul Khader, Anwar Ahmed Khan, M. Ravi Kiran, A. Lalith Mohan, P. Kaneshkk Naidu, Danny Derek Prince, Syed Ahmed Quadri, Saaketh Sai Ram, B. Sandeep and Amol Shinde.
All the players have forwarded their request through the Hyderabad Cricket Association, says HCA official
