IPL 2027 Trade: T Natarajan returns to SRH as leggie Zeeshan Ansari moves to DC

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) boosted their bowling attack ahead of IPL 2027 with their former seamer T Natarajan returning to the Orange Army in a swap deal. In return, leg spinner Zeeshan Ansari has moved to Delhi Capitals (DC).

Natarajan, 35, played two seasons for Delhi, who bought him for INR 10.75 crore ($1.1 million approx.) at the IPL 2025 mega auction. While he rejoins SRH at a revised fee of INR 5 crore, Ansari has moved to DC at his existing fee of INR 40 lakh. This swap adds INR 10.35 crore to DC’s available purse while deducting INR 4.6 crore from SRH’s.

Having missed a major chunk of IPL 2025 due to an injury, the left-arm seamer played 10 matches for Delhi in 2026, returning with five wickets at an expensive economy of 11.18. In his first stint with SRH, Natarajan represented them from 2020 to 2024, picking up 65 wickets in 55 outings at 8.82.

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Natarajan’s breakthrough came after his first season with SRH, where he picked up 16 wickets in the 2020 edition, which helped him earn his maiden India call-up later that year. He has played seven international matches across three formats, including his only Test appearance during the historic Brisbane Test in early 2021.

Ansari enjoyed his debut season with SRH in IPL 2026, playing 10 matches and returning with six wickets, with the best 3/42. He bowled at an economy of 9.84.

Meanwhile, Delhi have been involved in their second trade in this window, having earlier traded spinner Kuldeep Yadav to Lucknow Super Giants for keeper-batter Rishabh Pant. The left-handed batter, who became the most expensive buy in IPL history for INR 27 crore in the 2025 mega auction, agreed to move for a revised fee of INR 15 crore.

Kuldeep, however, was traded to LSG for his current fee of INR 13.50 crore.

The IPL 2027 mini-auction will take place in Goa from 14 to 16 December.