India pacer Mohammed Shami took a dig at Sanjay Manjrekar who suggested that the former Gujarat Titans bowler will suffer a dip in his price tag at the forthcoming IPL 2025 mega auction.
Shami, who was released by the Titans ahead of the November 24 and 25 auction in Jeddah, returned to competitive cricket last week after a year’s break to knee injuries. The 34-year-old powered Bengal to a victory over Madhya Pradesh with a seven-wicket haul, making a case for his inclusion in India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad after failing to make the cut initially.
Analysing the IPL auction stocks of Shami, Manjrekar said the injury-prone pacer is likely to suffer a huge price drop.
“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. 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,” Manjrekar said on Star Sports.
Shami responds
Reacting to Manjrekar’s analysis, Shami wrote on his Instagram story: “Baba ki jay hoooo. Thoda sa gyan apne future k lie bhi bacha loo kaam aayega Sanjay G? Kisi ko future janna ho to sir se mile (Hail Baba. Save some knowledge for your future too, it will be useful Sanjay ji? If anyone wants to know the future, then meet sir).”
Roped in for Rs 6.25 crore in 2022, Shami picked up 48 wickets in 33 games for Gujarat. Shami was the Purple Cap winner in the 2023 season, snapping 28 wickets from 17 innings at an average of 18.64 and an economy of 8.03.
Shami is now gearing up to feature in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Bengal before making a potential return to the Test in the second-half of the BGT series. Named in the