Mohammed Al-Shami (Image source: BCCI/IPL)
Sunrisers Hyderabad traded Mohammed Shami to Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 10 crore ahead of this season. And on Sunday, he repaid them with interest, picking off Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma in the Powerplay with supreme skill and deception.Shami started from over the wicket to head, a line that hinted at predictability. The Australian, anticipating the ball going wide, set up accordingly. Instead, the first three births became normal again: narrow and invasive, resulting in a narrowing of his niche. By the fourth, when Shami sent a cross to the perfect length, Head was content to push it to clear the strike. Against Sharma, the trick took shape. Shami turned deep third man into deep point, referring to the outside off-stump.
However, Shami threw a scorching yorker, and speared Sharma through the stump of his leg. Then came the boom. On the final ball of the opening, another player was pushed offside, reinforcing the idea of the show. Shami covered the ball wide, but was incisive. Sharma, who finished short early, was caught at short third for a duck.
The hook has been caught.
He watches
Al-Shami reveals what makes LSG special after the big win
The speedster wasn’t finished. He came back next time with another evil piece.
The head was still readjusting itself, pressing forward awkwardly. His bottom hand slipped, and the ball rolled toward the middle. Aiden Markram dove forward to take a sharp shot.Two wickets. Eighteen dotted balls. Numbers 2/9 and the Man of the Match award.“If he continues to bowl like this, it will be difficult for the selectors to ignore him,” former Delhi bowler Sanjeev Sharma told TOI. “Play with him in the Afghanistan series.
But like a dent in a car, you have to deal with it carefully. Likewise, his body needs careful management.”At 35, Shami knows that better than anyone. After a tough season in IPL 2025 for SRH, where he managed six wickets from nine matches, Shami rebuilt the team the hard way.“I am not a machine. If you are fit only you can work on your skills. That is why I stayed in touch with the game and played all the domestic matches,” he told reporters.Shami tore through the previous Ranji season, collecting 67 wickets for Bengal.Since his last appearance for India in the ICC Champions Trophy last year, he has remained on the sidelines, partly due to injuries.This is the Levantine paradox. Fragile frame and unbreakable craft. But on days like these, he bends the ball and the game to his will.