"Spending ₹13 crore becomes an interesting call": Anil Kumble on SRH's Liam Livingstone buy

Former India cricketer Anil Kumble has commented on England player Liam Livingstone joining Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 13 crore for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season.

Livingstone has vast T20 experience. The England cricketer has scored 7,496 runs in 330 T20 matches at an average of 28.18 and a strike rate of 144.93, including two centuries and 39 half-centuries. Liam has picked up 143 wickets at an average of just over 25.

For England, he has 955 runs in 60 T20Is at an average of 25.13 and a strike rate of 148.98, with one century and two fifties, besides 43 wickets.

In the IPL, Livingstone has scored 1,051 runs in 49 matches for Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at a strike rate of over 158, with seven half-centuries, while also taking 13 wickets. Last year, Livingstone was part of RCB's title-winning campaign. He scored 112 runs in eight matches.

Speaking on 'TATA IPL Auction Review', JioStar expert Kumble praised Livingstone's ability to change the game in just a few overs. The former Indian cricketer added that Livingstone can bat anywhere.

Kumble also commented on SRH's interesting call to buy Livingstone for Rs 13 crore at the auction, as the franchise already has Travis Head, Pat Cummins, and Heinrich Klaasen as its three main overseas players.

"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. That said, 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.

"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. I also feel they may have overestimated the value of uncapped Indian players early on. Someone like Salil Arora, we saw Kartik Sharma go to CSK for ₹14.2 crore -- and SRH probably expected similar bidding pressure. They held back money thinking there would be a fight for these players, but that didn't quite happen. As a result, they ended up with funds left but very few bowling options available. At that point, they realised they had Salil at ₹1.5 crore and money remaining, but no bowlers to pick from. So they decided to go all-in on Liam Livingstone -- and that's exactly how it played out," Kumble added.

On the balance of SRH's squad, Kumble said, "When you're looking to strengthen your bowling and then decide to strengthen your batting instead, it's a very different approach. Clearly, they're backing themselves to out-bat the opposition -- something they managed to do in the past."

"Kumble added, You would have expected them to add someone who provides solidity alongside Pat Cummins, but they've consciously chosen not to do that. Eshan Malinga did bowl well last season, but where does he fit into this line-up now, that remains unclear. If he does come in, it looks quite similar to last season's line-up, especially when you factor in the presence of Ishan Kishan at the time."

Sunrisers Hyderabad full squad for IPL 2026:

Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins, Smaran Ravichandaran, Travis Head, Zeeshan Ansari, Salil Arora, Shivang Kumar, Liam Livingstone, Jack Edwards, Amit Kumar, Krains Fuletra, Sakib Hussain, Onkar Tarmale, Praful Hinge, Shivam Mavi.

- ANI