India’s veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami will don the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) jersey in the next Indian Premier League (IPL) season after he was bagged by the franchise Rs 10 crore once Shami’s former employers Gujarat Titans refused to use the Right-to-Match (RTM) card.
Talking to JioCinema after the auction at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, GT’s head coach Ashish Nehra said Shami was part of the team’s retention plans, but it didn’t work out.
“Whatever he has done for GT and for India, I mean he was part of our retention (plans) also. But again, you see retention is that kind of a thing,” said Nehra, a former India pacer. “Mohammed Shami, Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudharsan — every team has so many options. Then we had RTM also, that maybe we can use RTM (at the auction) and take him; but the kind of price he went (for)…”
GT retained five players ahead of the mega auction: Rashid Khan (Rs 18 crore), Shubman Gill (Rs 16.5 crore), Sai Sudharsan (Rs 8.5 crore), Rahul Tewatia (Rs 4 crore) and Shahrukh Khan (Rs 4 crore).
At the auction, GT could have used the RTM to match SRH’s bid, but they denied. Nehra said sometimes strategies don’t work out.
“It doesn’t matter whatever strategy you have, when it comes to open auction, your strategy is not going to be successful all the time,” said the GT coach.
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“Definitely, whatever Mohammed Shami has done for GT and those three years will always be memorable.”
Gujarat Titans had bought Shami in the 2022 auction for Rs 6.25 crore, which was the debut season for GT and they went on to win the trophy in the first attempt itself.
In IPL 2023, Shami won the Purple Cap by finishing as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament, scalping 28 wickets in 17 matches at an average of 18.64 and an economy of 8.03.
Shami sustained an ankle injury in the 2023 ODI World Cup and was subsequently ruled out of IPL 2024.