England international Harry Brook is set to become the most expensive cricketer in The Hundred. Sunrisers Leeds, formerly known as Northern Superchargers, are set to retain him for £470,000 or INR 5.62 crore. As per the latest guidelines, all eight franchises are allowed to retain or pre-sign a maximum of four players, and Sunrisers were quick to act on it, having secured three players ahead of the new season.
Notably, Brook is currently serving a two-year ban in the IPL, after pulling out of the 2025 edition of the tournament. Despite so, his popularity among Indian-based franchises didn’t wane, as his paycheck suggest. Apart from Brook, Leeds have also retained Brydon Carse and signed Australia T20I captain Mitchell Marsh.
Carse is already part of the Sunrisers set-up, as the England international plays for Hyderabad in the IPL. Marsh, on the other hand, is a brilliant signing, as he is a force to reckon with in the shortest format. Daniel Vettori, who has been roped in by Leeds for the head coach role, enjoys a brilliant relationship with Marsh in the Australian team and it is understandable why the franchise signed him for the next season. They did the same by signing Pat Cummins in the IPL auction.
Other teams and their possible retentions and pre-signings
Manchester Super Kings, formerly known as Manchester Originals, are set to retain Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen and Noor Ahmad. Recently, they announced Tom Moody as the new Director of Cricket, after parting ways with Andrew Flintoff.
Meanwhile, Trent Rockets are set to have Joe Root and Ben Duckett in the mix, while Birmingham Phoenix are heavily interested in Rehan Ahmed, Donovan Ferreira and Jacob Bethell. MI London, on the other hand, are expected to retain Sam Curran, Will Jacks and Rashid Khan. For the second overseas cricketer, they are tossing option between Nicholas Pooran and Trent Boult, as ESPNcricinfo reported.
London Spirit have signed Liam Livingstone and Jamie Overton, and are also targeting Adam Zampa. Jodra Archer has been offered a lucrative deal to continue with the Southern Brave. The GMR franchise, in the meantime, have already roped in Jamie Smith, Marcus Stoinis and Tristan Stubbs.