Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes Mohammed Shami's price tag might "drop" in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction, considering his history with injuries. The 34-year-old made his return to competitive cricket last week after being on the sidelines for almost a year due to a knee injury. Shami will also be playing the Syed Mushtaq Trophy for Bengal, but Manjrekar still believes that the IPL franchises would be wary of bringing out the big bucks for the speedster.

Shami has not played any international cricket after the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia, and it is not known whether he would be on the flight to Australia for the last four Tests against Australia. For the upcoming auction, Shami has set his base price as INR 2 crore, and he is a part of the Marquee Set 2.

The speedster has been named in Bengal's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad, so it is signs enough that even the national selectors do not want to rush his comeback, and want him to get a few more matches under his belt.

"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 said on 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.

The IPL mega auction is set to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25. The pacer was not retained by Gujarat Titans, for whom he played two seasons, taking 48 wickets across 33 games. The pacer then missed the 2024 season due to an injury.

How did Shami perform on his return?

Shami made his return to competitive cricket last week as he played the fifth-round Ranji Trophy match for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh.

The right-arm pacer returned with a total of seven wickets. He ended up bowling 44 overs, and not just that, he also played a crucial knock of 37 runs.

Shami's heroics with the bat, in the end, proved crucial as Bengal eeked out a narrow 11-run win.

As per several reports, during the Ranji Trophy match, Shami was seen bowling constantly within the 130-135 kmph mark.

Earlier, Shami's childhood coach Mohammed Badruddin had expressed his desire to see his ward making the trip Down Under for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, set to begin on November 22.

It needs to be seen how the Indian bowling lineup fares in Australia, considering there are just two experienced customers in the form of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

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