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Suryakumar Yadav's honest admission at the IPL auction right after T20Is against South Africa: 'You can't lie…'

India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav honestly admitted that the players are actually thinking about the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction and retentions even as they are in South Africa for the four-match T20I series starting on Friday began in Durban. The IPL mega auction ahead of the 2025 season will take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, just a week after the end of the T20I series between India and South Africa.

India captain Suryakumar Yadav. (AP)(HT_PRINT)

During the first T20I match between India and South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav was asked if the players on his side are keeping an eye on the upcoming IPL auction as player commitments were recently announced by all ten franchises.

“Absolutely, you see, it's a human tendency, you can't lie about not thinking about it. At the end of the day, we all talk about it as people, but at the end of the day, when “You come here, there are exciting times ahead, there is a lot at stake,” Suryakumar Yadav said at the toss.

On the other hand, Proteas captain Aiden Markram said that his focus remains on the series against India and he and his team are not looking too far ahead.

Responding to the same question, Markram said: “We are a pretty competitive team and the discussions have been about how we can achieve positive results.”

Markram was not acquired by SunRisers Hyderabad

Recently, SunRisers Hyderabad had announced the retention of its players and the franchise decided to stick with Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen and Travis Head. Aiden Markram has been released by the franchise and it remains to be seen who will pick up Markram in the upcoming mega auction.

On the other hand, Suryakumar Yadav was acquired by Mumbai Indians alongside Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma.

As for the upcoming mega auction, a total of 1,574 players (1,165 from India and 409 from abroad) have registered to go under the hammer on November 24th and 25th. The list includes 320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players and 30 players from associated nations.

Back to the first T20I between India and South Africa: Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bowl first.

Here are the full XIs

South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton (f), Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Patrick Kruger, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter.

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(f), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.