Mohammed Shami is back in form, it seems! Last week, he took seven wickets for Bengal in the thrilling 11-run win over Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy. He also scored crucial 37 runs in the second innings.
The match marked his return to competitive cricket after being away for nearly a year due to an ankle injury for which he underwent surgery.
And it's not just on the field that he is firing all cylinders. On Thursday, the 34-year-old took to Instagram to slam former cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar for his remark that the Indian pacer will not attract a high bid at the IPL mega auction, to be held on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah.
Shami, who has taken 127 wickets in 110 IPL matches since his debut in 2013, was released by Gujarat Titans ahead of the auction. He is listed at a base price of Rs 2 crore.
In the 2022 edition, Shami took 20 wickets for Gujarat Titans, helping the franchise win their maiden title. But, Manjrekar said that though the Indian pacer will attract bids from multiple teams, he is unlikely to spark any intense bidding war, given Shami's injury record and the possibility of mid-season breakdown.
"If a franchise invests heavily and then loses him [Shami] mid-season, their options become limited. This concern might lead to a drop in his price tag," Manjrekar told Star Sports.
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Shami has not been included in the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, starting on November 22 in Perth.
Manjrekar has, in the past, rubbed Indian cricketers such as Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, the wrong way with his remarks in the commentary box or social media, attracting heavy backlash from the players and netizens alike.