Mohammed Shami's time at the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) may come to an end after just one season as the pacer is likely to be traded to the Lucknow Super Giants before the IPL 2026 auction. Shami was acquired by the Hyderabad franchise at the IPL 2025 mega auction for a hefty sum of INR 10 crore, however, his disappointing form and concerns regarding fitness meant that the 2016 champions were keen to let him go after just one season.
While Sunrisers want to let Shami go, former South African pacer and ex-bowling coach of the franchise, Dale Steyn, rued the fact that he didn't get to work with the veteran India pacer during his time as part of the coaching group in the IPL. Steyn, who was appointed as the bowling coach for a couple of seasons in 2022 and 2023, had the likes of Umran Malik and Marco Jansen to work alongside and rued that he had begged the management to somehow get Shami into the SRH squad at that time.
"When I was bowling coach of Sunrisers, I was like, please, can we somehow get Mohammed Shami. And the moment that I wasn't there, they got him. So, I would be disappointed if you lost him. I think fitness and form play a key role when it comes to the IPL, especially with bowlers. You want bowlers to be fit," Steyn said during the lunch break on the first day of the opening Test between India and South Africa.
Steyn pulled out of IPL 2024 due to personal reasons, before parting ways with the franchise ahead of the 2025 edition. Had Steyn stuck one more season with the Sunrisers, who knows, he may have gotten a chance to work alongside Shami.
On the news of Shami being let go of by the franchise, Steyn admitted that if the management feels that the bowler is not 100 per cent and not fit and firing, they may not want to continue but was surprised by SRH's decision to pull the plug after just one season.
"You want them to be firing, and if Shami is fit and firing, he'll make any team. But if he's been struggling a little bit and he's had a couple of months off, some teams might say, you know what, there are other players that we would like to come into the team right now because they're fit. They're firing, and you would have been good a year and a half. for us, but not right now."
"So that release might happen. But yeah, 3 years ago when I was there, I was begging for him," Steyn further said. As per reports, Shami is likely to be traded to the Lucknow Super Giants on an all-cash deal by the Sunrisers, who will be looking for an Indian pace option at the auction, to compliment Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat.
