Mohammed Shami Set for Major Price Drop at IPL Auction; Sanjay Manjrekar Warns Franchises Against Overspending

Sanjay Manjrekar, a former India batter, has expressed his concerns about Mohammed Shami's price tag potentially dropping in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction. Shami, who has a history of injuries, recently returned to competitive cricket after being sidelined for almost a year due to a knee injury. Despite his comeback and upcoming participation in the Syed Mushtaq Trophy for Bengal, Manjrekar believes that IPL franchises may be hesitant to invest heavily in the 34-year-old speedster.

Shami has not played any international cricket after the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia, and it is not known whether he would be on the flight to Australia for the last four Tests against Australia. For the upcoming auction, Shami has set his base price as INR 2 crore, and he is a part of the Marquee Set 2.

The speedster has been named in Bengal's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad, so it is signs enough that even the national selectors do not want to rush his comeback, and want him to get a few more matches under his belt.

"There will definitely be interest from teams, but given Shami's injury history—and this recent one took a significant amount of time to recover—there’s always a concern about a potential breakdown during the season," Manjrekar said on Star Sports.

"If a franchise invests heavily and then loses him mid-season, their options become limited. This concern might lead to a drop in his price tag," he added.

The IPL mega auction is set to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25. The pacer was not retained by Gujarat Titans, for whom he played two seasons, taking 48 wickets across 33 games. The pacer then missed the 2024 season due to an injury.

Shami made his return to competitive cricket last week as he played the fifth-round Ranji Trophy match for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh.

The right-arm pacer returned with a total of seven wickets. He ended up bowling 44 overs, and not just that, he also played a crucial knock of 37 runs.

Shami's heroics with the bat, in the end, proved crucial as Bengal eeked out a narrow 11-run win.

As per several reports, during the Ranji Trophy match, Shami was seen bowling constantly within the 130-135 kmph mark.

Earlier, Shami's childhood coach Mohammed Badruddin had expressed his desire to see his ward making the trip Down Under for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, set to begin on November 22.

It needs to be seen how the Indian bowling lineup fares in Australia, considering there are just two experienced customers in the form of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.