Indian pacer Mohammed Shami has hit out at the former cricketer-turned-pundit Sanjay Manjrekar amid IPL auction predictions. Shami called out Manjrekar after the latter reckoned that there might be a drop in the pacer's price tag keeping his injury concerns in mind. Shami recently returned to competitive cricket in the Ranji Trophy for Bengal after being out of the action for almost a year since the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup after struggling with a heel injury.
""Baba ki jay hoooooo. Thodasa gyan apne future k lie bhi bacha loo kaam ayega Sanjay G? Kisi ko future janna ho to sir se mile (Salute to the wiseman. Sanjay ji, please save some of this advice for your own future? If someone wants to know about their future, don't hesitate to get in touch with him)," Shami wrote on his Instagram story in reference to what Manjrekar said regarding Shami's expected salary in the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction.
For the uninitiated, Manjrekar during the Star Sports show mentioned that if a team invests in him heavily and if god-forbid something happens to him again, it is the team which suffers in the middle of the season. "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 in the run-up to the auction.
"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.
Shami was picked by Gujarat Titans at the IPL 2022 mega auction for INR 6.25 crore. Shami was instrumental in the Titans' success in the two seasons he featured for the franchise, including a Purple Cap-winning season, taking 28 wickets in 2023.
Shami had undergone surgery and hence his rehab and recovery kept getting delayed. Recently there was another setback during his rehab, which meant that Shami wasn't on the plane to Australia at least for the first couple of games. If fit, Shami is a gun white-ball bowler and is expected to fetch a decent amount at the auction.
As far as the Titans are concerned, the 2022 champions retained five players including Rashid Khan (INR 18 cr), Shubman Gill (INR 16.5 cr), Sai Sudharsan (INR 8.5 cr), Rahul Tewatia (INR 4 cr), Shahrukh Khan (INR 4 cr). The two-day mega auction is set to take place in Jeddah on November 24 and 25.
