Adam Zampa, the talented leg-spinner for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), won’t be taking part in IPL 2025 due to an injury. In his place, the team has brought in Karnataka batter Smaran Ravichandran, who has been showing promise. This change was announced on social media on April 14, but there wasn’t much detail about Zampa’s injury. Zampa’s absence is definitely a blow for SRH, as he’s been a key player for them.
Smaran Ravichandran isn’t just known for his batting skills; he can bowl a bit too. But primarily, he’s a solid top-to-middle order batsman who knows how to switch gears during a game, making him a valuable addition. So far, he’s played 7 First-Class matches, 10 List A games, and 6 T20s, accumulating over 1100 runs in total. The 30 lakh deal for him to join SRH shows that they see real potential in him.
Interestingly, Ravichandran didn’t get picked during the IPL 2025 mega auction, which might leave some teams wishing they had taken a chance on him. However, he quickly turned heads after his unselected status with a fantastic performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy finals, where he scored a century that helped his team win. His impressive run continued in the Ranji Trophy, and he had a standout season in the Maharaja Trophy, racking up 302 runs at an average of 43.14 and a strike rate of 145.19 while playing for the Gulbarga Mystics.
Before signing with SRH, he had been part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) preseason training sessions, where he caught the eye of the coaches. It might be tough for him to get into SRH’s strong batting line-up right away, but if he gets the opportunity, there’s a good chance he could shine.
Smaran recently spoke to News18 CricketNext, sharing his ambitions. Winning championships for your team has always been on my mind. That feeling when you win is just unreal, he said in the exclusive interview. Every single thing I do, whether it’s batting or fielding, is all about helping my team win and bringing home the trophy. That mindset is going to continue, and I really hope to bring more trophies for Karnataka.
With the next cricket season coming up quickly, he’s focused on bringing the Ranji Trophy back home for Karnataka next year. Ultimately, my long-term goal is to represent my country. I believe that will come as a result of winning trophies with my team. So yeah, that’s definitely the plan going forward.
