Mohammed Shami ridicules Sanjay Manjrekar over comments on reduced IPL value

PTI, Nov 21, 2024, 2:25 PM IST

New Delhi: Mohammed Shami on Thursday took to social media to ridicule former player and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar’s suggestion that the Indian pacer will not attract a higher price in the upcoming mega auction of the Indian Premier League.

Shami, who has taken 127 wickets in 110 IPL matches since his debut in 2013, made a comeback to competitive cricket recently after spending nearly a year’s time away due to an ankle injury for which he had undergone surgery.

The 34-year-old pacer was released by Gujarat Titans ahead of the mega auction and he is listed at a base price of Rs 2 crore.

“Baba Ki Jay Hooooo. Thoda sa gyan apne futue ke liye bhi bacha lo kaam ayeaga Sanjy G. Kisi ko futue janna ho to sir se mile (All hail baba ji. Please save some wisdom for the future as well Sanjay G. If anyone wants to know about their future please meet Sir),” Shami wrote on Instagram.

Manjrekar said while he expects several teams to bid for Shami, who took 20 wickets in the 2022 edition for Gujarat Titans to help the franchise win their maiden title, he doesn’t expect the right-arm pacer to attract intense bidding.

“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 told Star Sports.

“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’s reaction follows Rishabh Pant’s retort a few days ago when the Indian wicketkeeper-batter rejected legendary Sunil Gavaskar’s assessment that “maybe” he left Delhi Capitals because of a disagreement over retention fee.

Pant wrote on X, “My retention wasn’t about the money for sure that I can say.