South African ex-fast bowling star Dale Steyn has said that he would often urge the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) management to recruit Mohammed Shami during the time he was the bowling coach of the franchise. His former colleague Steyn, who spent 2021-24 with SRH, thinks that he was in his best in those years, as evidenced by his IPL 2023 Purple Cap-winning performance.
Shami was also earlier bought by SRH in the mega auction at INR 10 crore but the old camel has not managed to serve the team because of the challenge of being out of fitness and not performing regularly. The 2025 season was a dreadful one as Shami only achieved six wickets in nine games and it was a question to whether or not he would continue. As the reports, he is capable of being sold to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) prior to the auction or of being fired altogether.
Steyn stated that he was disappointed to see SRH release such a gifted bowler, though has acknowledged that there is an aspect of fitness that can come into play when it comes to retention. What he insisted on however, was that a full fit and in- form Shami could walk into any IPL team without having to be questioned. The 35 year old has been in a fantastic shape and has taken 15 wickets in three Ranji Trophy matches.
“When I was bowling coach of Sunrisers, I was like, please, can we somehow get Mohammed Shami. And the moment that I wasn’t there, they got him. So, I would be disappointed if you lost him. I think fitness and form play a key role when it comes to the IPL, especially with bowlers. You want bowlers to be fit,” said Steyn on Star Sports.
“You want them to be firing, and if Shami is fit and firing, he’ll make any team. But if he’s been struggling a little bit and he’s had a couple of months off, some teams might say, you know what, there are other players that we would like to come into the team right now because they’re fit. They’re firing, and you would have been good a year and a half. for us, but not right now. So that release might happen. But yeah, three years ago when I was there, I was begging for him,” he added.
