A Trade deal was completed on Thursday, swapping Nathan Ellis and Khaleel Ahmed from Chennai Super Kings for Liam Livingstone and Jack Edwards. Former Sunrisers Hyderabad player Tirumalasetti Suman said that bringing in both Khaleel and Nathan Ellis to SRH was likely done with skipper Pat Cummins’ availability in the upcoming season in mind.
“So, these 4 players didn’t perform in the IPL last year. But still, why did this trade happen? Because of both teams’ strengths and weaknesses. Looking at SRH, Pat Cummins’ availability is 50-50 for the IPL. So, I feel that this trade was compulsory to fill up that slot,” Suman said on his YouTube channel.
“Khaleel Ahmed can bowl three overs with the new ball in the powerplay. And Nathan Ellis is a brilliant death-overs bowler. He bowls in the middle overs and death overs as well. His back-of-the-hand slower ball is also very good. So, I feel that this trade was made considering all these factors,” he added.
Livingstone, the England all-rounder, joins CSK at a reduced fee of Rs 6 crore, having originally been acquired by SRH for Rs 13 crore.
Australian seam-bowling all-rounder Edwards also joins CSK at his existing fee of Rs 3 crore. Edwards was signed by SRH before making his international debut for Australia but could not feature in IPL 2026 after being ruled out with a foot injury.
In return, SRH acquired left-arm fast bowler Khaleel at his existing fee of Rs 4.8 crore. Khaleel, who previously represented SRH from 2018 to 2021, returns to the franchise after an impressive IPL 2025 campaign, in which he claimed 15 wickets in 14 matches for CSK. He featured in five matches for CSK in IPL 2026 before being ruled out of the season with a right quadriceps injury.
Australian fast bowler Ellis also joins SRH at his existing fee of Rs 2 crore. Known for his variations and effectiveness in the death overs, Ellis brings valuable T20 experience and adds to SRH’s pace-bowling resources.
