SRH signed the youngster as an injury replacement in IPL 2025
Karnataka’s Smaran Ravichandran was unsold at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction in November last year but franchises learned quickly they missed out on a big opportunity.
In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024, Smaran scored 170 runs while averaging 34 at a strike rate of 170, but his best came in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Even though his tally of 433 runs from seven innings was 11 highest in the entire tournament, no one played more impactful innings than Smaran.
The 22-year-old scored a gritty 76 in the semifinal against defending champions Haryana to put Karnataka in the final for the first time in six years and then scored a fluent 101 that helped them beat a Vidarbha side in rampaging form in the final to clinch the title.
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BVB
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Match Called off
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Adelaide Strikers Academy beat Perth Scorchers Academy by 6 wickets
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He carried the same form into the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 with a stunning 203 against Punjab followed by an unbeaten 133 against Haryana in the next match.
In an exclusive with Cricxtasy, Smaran revealed that he had given trails for Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians but it was Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) that landed the youngster after mid-season trials. Adam Zampa suffered an injury which prompted SRH to sign Smaran for INR 30 lakh for the business end of league stage.
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But unfortunately for the left-hander, he suffered an injury before he could make his IPL debut for the 2016 champions. He was replaced by Vidarbha’s Harsh Dubey.
In the ongoing Maharaja T20 Trophy in Karnataka, the left-hander is proving to be a potential retention option for SRH squad with 127 runs from four innings which includes two identical scores of 52.
On Monday, Smaran scored a measured 52 off 39 balls against Hubli Tigers which took Gulbarga Mystics to a four-wicket victory in Mysuru.
Batting first, Hubli were anchored by Mumbai Indians’ keeper-batter Shrijith Krishnan who scored 52 off 45 balls and S Rakshith’s 36 off 22 balls but rest of the batters floundered which kept them restricted at 159/6 in 20 overs.
In reply, Gulbarga suffered early setbacks with the dismissals of in-form openers Luvnith Sisodia and Nikin Jose and No.3 Kirshnamurthy Siddharth for just 15 runs. But Smaran and Prajwal Pavan steadied the chase with a partnership of 71 off 51 balls.
Despite their dismissals, Bangalore Mohith (26 off 18 balls) and Praveen Dubey (19 off 16 balls) won the match with two balls remaining.
