Liam Livingstone was a part of Kavya Maran's SRH in IPL 2026. PC- AFP
With the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) now over, the foreign players have flown back home. In this cooling-off period, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)’s all-rounder, Liam Livingstone, has exposed dirty politics involving the IPL owners.
The Englishman was acquired by the Orange Army ahead of the IPL 2026 for a whopping INR 13 crore at the mini-auctions. SRH were knocked out of the tournament due to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's masterclass in Eliminator.
However, he didn’t get enough chances to justify the massive pay, playing just two matches in the entire season.
During those handful of games, Livingstone could only score 15 runs. Meanwhile, the all-rounder didn’t bowl at all.
Liam Livingstone exposes SRH's dirty politics
After heading home, Liam Livingstone has decided to reveal the politics led by SRH owner Kavya Maran, which kept him from playing as many games.
While speaking on the Stick to Cricket podcast, alongside former cricketers Sir Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, Phil Tufnell and David Lloyd, the Englishman revealed that the SRH team management had benched him to make way for a player of the team owner's choice.
According to the 32-year-old, a SRH player the Mumbai Indians also wanted was picked ahead of him because the SRH owner, i.e. Kavya Maran, like him a lot.
Also Read: Kavya Maran, Ambani Family In Direct Tussle Over New Team Ownership
Furthermore, he also mentioned that the English star was asked to warm the bench even in Pat Cummins' absence, as the team management didn’t want to compromise the team combination.
Watch: Liam Livingstone speaks about SRH's dressing room secrets
Who is SRH player Liam Livingstone is speaking about?
In IPL 2026, the Kavya Maran-owned SRH had a similar batting line-up as they had in the previous two seasons. However, one major change they made this season was bringing in Salil Arora as a finishing option.
Hailing from Punjab, the young wicketkeeper played all games for SRH in his maiden season, where he even left his mark on multiple occasions, scoring 156 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of nearly 160.
The 23-year-old was bought by the Hyderabad franchise for a price of INR 1.5 crore in the mini-auction before the season, especially after slamming 28 sixes in the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Interestingly, the five-time champions, MI, were more than interested in the talented young cricketer, as they bid against SRH for Arora from the very beginning. Although they had a limited purse, MI went up to INR 1.4 crore for the cricketer, only to lose to SRH.
Liam Livingstone's topsy turvy IPL career
Liam Livingstone has been a match-winner in franchise cricket and even for his national team. In the shortest format, he has played close to 350 games, scoring 7702 runs at an average of 27.80 and a strike rate of 144.28.
However, the all-rounder has been a rather hit-or-miss sort of cricketer in the IPL.
In his eight-year-long career, the explosive cricketer has played for four different teams, but barring the IPL 2022 for the PBKS, he hasn’t stamped his authority in any season.
Even in IPL 2025, he played for the IPL-winning team, but RCB had to drop the Englishman due to his woeful form.
It isn't the first time Livingstone has exposed a team's dirty politics. Recently, he spoke about the miscommunication that preceded the ECB's decision to drop him from the 2026 T20 World Cup squad.
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