The Indian right-arm fast bowler, Mohammed Shami with his impeccable IPL history, seems to create a tussle among franchises in the IPL mega auction 2022 on February 12 & 13 in Bengaluru. He is one of the successful bowlers in IPL history, registering 79 scalps from 77 matches since 2011.
This season like Shahrukh Khan, Shami also hasn’t been retained by Punjab which means he will go under the hammer during the mega auction. These are the 3 IPL franchises who seem to look interested in this Indian pacer.
1.) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Two-time IPL winners, KKR have retained strong players like T20 specialist, Venkatesh Iyer, All-rounder, Andre Russell, and spinners like Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. KKR despite having strong pacers like Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, etc. they haven’t retained any of them. This shows that the franchise is all set to welcome some new fast bowlers into the team and therefore their eyes might be looking for Shami as well.
2.) Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
The 2016 IPL champion, SRH will have to lay a strong bowling foundation after Rashid Khan’s exit from the franchise. SRH has retained skipper Kane Williamson, batter Abdul Samad, and pacer Umar Malik. Malik has impressed with his bowling by clocking 150+ km consistently. But still, he is fresh and needs to be accompanied by a strong experienced bowler, and at the moment no one better than Shami can fit into this category.
3.) Punjab Kings
There are chances that Shami might come back to Punjab for the fourth season as well. Shami’s best performance for Punjab Kings was recorded in the 2020 season where he registers 20 scalps in 14 matches. He had a fantastic IPL season last year as he took 19 wickets in 14 games, becoming the fifth-highest wicket-taker of the season. Punjab has retained opener Mayank Agarwal, and left-arm pacer, Arshdeep Singh. Thus the 2014 IPL finalists might have kept themselves at disadvantage by not retaining Shami, but might also consider him taking back as he has been the team’s most consistent bowler.