- By Namrata Vijay
- Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:14 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
LSG vs SRH IPL 2026: Sunrisers Hyderabad didn't just face a brilliant opening spell against Lucknow Super Giants. They had to bear the brunt of a decision they had made themselves a few months ago. Mohammed Shami, who was traded by the Hyderabad-based franchise to LSG, came back to their home ground for one of the new-ball performances that the host would have wanted when they bought him for a whopping amount of Rs 10 crore during the IPL 2025 auction. But on Sunday, Shami performed brilliantly for LSG against SRH at their backyard.
The numbers do look quite lethal. He had bowled four overs in Hyderabad, where he registered brilliant figures of 2/9 at an economy rate of 2.25. He had dismissed both Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, making SRH totter for 8/2, and then made them suffer another batting collapse as they were reeling at 31 for 4 in nine overs. They had scored just 22 runs during the power play, which was quite surprising for a team that only knows how to bat aggressively.
The trade context made the damage sharper
It wasn't just a regular matchup. Before the ongoing season, the Hyderabad-based franchise traded Shami to LSG in what was considered a brilliant trade deal, as the star pacer was earning his existing fee of Rs 10 crore. Simply put, the Ishan Kishan-led side went ahead with an expensive fast bowler, even though he had a forgetful campaign, but then LSG realized that it was still worth investing in him.
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This is important because Mohammed Shami had played for the Hyderabad-based franchise just once, where he not only struggled to perform but also couldn't justify his price tag. He featured in nine matches last year, taking six wickets. He bowled at an average of 56.16 and an economy rate of 11.23, which shows he struggled to strike enough and was unable to stop the run flow. He also had conceded 75 runs during their match against the Punjab Kings and became the second most expensive bowler in the history of this tournament. And that's why SRH decided to move on from him.
Why did this spell hurt SRH beyond the wickets column
This spell was really special as he didn't just take the two wickets but also rattled SRH's batting attack. Abhishek Sharma was dismissed during the first over, then the Head got out at 2.1 overs, and then Ishan Kishan was dismissed at 3.3 overs. Their top three batters were dismissed in the first three overs, which made SRH's middle order survive rather than bat aggressively. After Liam Livingstone's dismissal at 7.1 overs, the innings had already taken its shape.