Sunrisers Hyderabad signed Punjab wicketkeeper-batter Salil Arora for Rs 1.50 crore in the IPL 2026 auction. The 23-year-old batter from Punjab is in red-hot form these days. He scored an unbeaten century (125) for Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 Super League match against Jharkhand on December 12 and remained unbeaten on 42 in the next fixture against Andhra. In Punjab’s third Super League match of the ongoing season, he made 50 runs from 29 balls against Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.
Salil has also played nine first class matches and in 14 innings has amassed a total of 458 runs.
Salil is the highest run getter in SMAT 2025 for Punjab.
In SRH, Salil will play with his state teammate Abhishek Sharma under Australian legend Pat Cummins’
leadership.
Salil was the only player signed by SRH for more than Rs 30 lakh in the IPL 2026 auction before the second round of the accelerated auction.
Players Bought By SRH
- Shivang Kumar (India) – Rs 30 lakh
- Salil Arora (India) – Rs 1.50 crore
- Sakib Hussain (India) – Rs 30 lakh
- Omkar Tarmale (India) – Rs 30 lakh
- Amit Kumar (India) – Rs 30 lakh
- Praful Hinge (India) – Rs 30 lakh
- Krains Fuletra (India) – Rs 30 lakh
Apart from Salil, SRH have signed Shivang Kumar, Sakib Hussain, Omkar Tarmale, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge and Krains Fuletra.
2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad entered the IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (December 16) with a purse of Rs 25.50 crore, and they had 10 vacancies. They can sign as many as two overseas players.
List of players retained by SRH ahead of IPL 2026 auction
- Batters: Ankiet Verma, Travis Head, Smaran Ravichandran
- Bowlers: Pat Cummins, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga
- All-rounders: Harshal Patel, Kusal Mendis, Harsh Dubey, Brydon Carse, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivang Kumar
- Wicketkeepers: Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen
Green becomes most expensive
In the IPL 2026 auction, KKR signed Australian all-rounder Cameron Green for Rs 25.20 crore. The 26-year-old Australian became the most expensive overseas player in the history of IPL. Before him, the record of being the most expensive overseas player in the IPL auction was in the name of Mitchell Starc. Starc was signed for Rs 24.75 crore by KKR in the IPL 2024 mini auction. Apart from Green, KKR signed Matheesha Pathirana for Rs 18 crore.
