Sunrisers Hyderabad have been set to trade senior Indian pacer Mohammed Shami to Lucknow Super Giants in an all-cash deal estimated at INR 10 crore, the amount SRH had bought him for in the IPL 2025 mega auction. It’s done in principle from both franchises and will be confirmed only after Shami says he is game. The IPL has set November 15 as the deadline for teams to send in the names of players whom they want to release from those who were part of their squad in 2025.
Shami, now 35, was going through a tough period in his career. He hasn’t played for India since the Champions Trophy final in March and was captaining Bengal in the Ranji Trophy. He recently admitted he was going through a difficult time after not being added to the home Test series against West Indies in October or the ongoing series with South Africa. He was also ignored for India’s five-Test series tour of England earlier this year after an unimpressive IPL 2025.
Shami featured in only nine of SRH’s 14 matches during the 2025 season, where he picked just six wickets at an average of 56.16 and an economy rate of 11.23. His struggles were compounded at SRH’s home base in Hyderabad, with his economy rate going up to 12.35. One of his most difficult evenings came against Punjab Kings, when he was taken for 75 runs without success – the second most expensive spell ever in the IPL.
Shami had been a huge investment for SRH in the 2025 auction thanks to his outstanding powerplay bowling with the Gujarat Titans in 2022 and 2023, as well as when he picked up 28 wickets inside the first six overs over two seasons. The only bowlers who got close in terms of numbers during that phase were Trent Boult and Mohammed Siraj. But having missed IPL 2024 due to injury, Shami’s form slumped alarmingly in 2025, when he took just five wickets in nine powerplay overs at an economy rate of over 10.
Anxiety over his fitness, rhythm and pace had already given way to internal wrangling within the SRH thought-tank mentoring him, whether to retain him for the Eighth IPL. Under head coach Daniel Vettori, the Heat franchise and the LSG had been assessing their options, but the LSG came to them last week with an offer.
Joining Lucknow would see Shami reunited with Bharat Arun, the head of talent development at LSG and the former India bowling coach. Arun was key in developing India’s world-class bowling unit over the last ten years and had trained Shami, Bumrah, Ishant, Umesh, and Siraj closely during his time with the national team.
For LSG, Shami’s inclusion might be further influenced by the fitness issues dogging their core of Indian pacers such as Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan. All three are currently recovering from injuries and are not playing domestic cricket. Mayank is recuperating from back surgery he had in June, Mohsin from a torn ACL nine months earlier and Avesh from a cartilage issue on his right knee.
This proposed Shami trade is the IPL’s second big player swap before 2026. Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals recently completed a big swap involving Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran and Sanju Samson. As was the case with that deal, Shami’s move will only be concluded after all legal paperwork is done and approved by IPL authorities. Both SRH and LSG have been contacted for their official quotes on the development.
