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England all-rounder Liam Livingstone made shocking allegations one after the other after the conclusion of the IPL 2026 season. In a recent conversation he claimed that the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad influenced the team selection.
Liam Livingstone was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2026 season. The franchise acquired his services for a handsome price of Rs 13 crore. Despite the huge investment on the foreign cricketer, the team only allowed him to play a few matches.
Liam Livingstone makes shocking claims on SRH team selection process
IPL 2026 was a season to forget for the 32-year-old spin bowling all-rounder, who is mostly known for hitting big shots. In those two matches, he scored 1 and 14 respectively. It is clear from Liam Livingstone’s allegations that he is not at all happy with the franchise.
In a recent podcast, Livingstone claimed that the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad influenced the team selection. According to the all-rounder, he went to head coach Daniel Vettori seeking an explanation as to why he was not included in the playing combination.
‘The owners love this boy’
“He was like, ‘The owners love this guy. When Cummins comes back, we won’t change our thing.’
Livingstone mentioned one particular uncapped Indian player, Salil Arora, who joined the franchise for Rs 1.5 crore, has scored 156 runs in 14 matches in IPL 2026. Livingstone believes that the franchise owners were determined to play Arora in most of the matches.
“I think there are three modes of IPL. You’re locked in, and everything is set for you. It’s like a limit: you can play or you can’t play. And your thoughts are, ‘If I play, this is the way it’s going to go.’ And like me, this year, when I went there, we got a guy (Salil Arora) in the auction who Mumbai Indians really wanted,” Livingstone said in a podcast.
“We had more money, so we bought him. The owners loved him. So he was ready to play for us. When we didn’t have Cummins, we were only playing three foreign players. So I asked Dan (Vettori), “Why are we only playing three foreign players?” He raised the question.
David Lloyd, who was on the podcast, asks what expertise the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad have. In response, Alastair Cook says, “A lot of money.”
England cricket legends join the conversation in the podcast
Cricket fans know that Kavya Maran is one of the owners of the franchise, who was seen in attendance during the matches and is recognized as one of the most enthusiastic owners of the franchise.
Livingstone doubts whether the owners made a thorough call, but is sure they certainly expressed their opinion.
“I don’t know if they fully make the decisions or not, but obviously they have their say. But I think the biggest thing for me from Dan Vettori this year was that he told me what was going on. I knew,” mentions Liam Livingstone.
Read more: Liam Livingstone’s IPL future in doubt after brutal attack on ‘boring’ tournament and flat pitches
