Anil Kumble believes that Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) needed to pick an overseas spinner, but instead, they went all-out to acquire the services of a batting all-rounder in Liam Livingstone at the IPL 2026 mini-auction.
The former champions entered the auction with a budget of INR 25.5 crore. They spent more than half of it to sign Livingstone, who had an underwhelming season at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) last season.
Kumble feels that with overseas stars like Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen,
and Travis Head set to feature in the playing XI regularly, it will be tough for Livingstone to get a look in. However, the former India captain backed the England cricketer to bounce back strongly after his disappointing exploits in IPL 2025.
“Spending ₹13 crore becomes an interesting call when you already have a bowling captain in Pat Cummins, who bats lower down the order, along with Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen -- three overseas slots that are almost fixed. SRH also needed a spin option, and instead they went for another batter," Kumble said while speaking on JioStar's IPL auction review.
“I think Liam Livingstone, as a buy, certainly makes sense in a T20 line-up, irrespective of his performances last season with RCB. He's the kind of player who can change a game in just a few overs; that's the way he bats. On top of that, he's extremely flexible -- he can open, bat at No. 3, or play in the middle order,” he added.
Kumble opined that the rationale behind signing Livingstone was SRH's willingness to bat the opposition out of the contest.
"Clearly, SRH are backing themselves to take the game away from the opposition with their batting. They've done that in the past, so this seems to be very much in line with their approach," Kumble stated.
Apart from Livingstone, the other overseas player that SRH roped in at the auction was Australian all-rounder Jack Edwards. The 25-year-old joined SRH for INR 3 crore.
