Sunrisers Hyderabad did not just run into a good opening spell against Lucknow Super Giants. They ran into a decision they had made themselves months earlier. Mohammed Shami, traded by SRH to LSG ahead of IPL 2026, returned to Hyderabad and produced the kind of new-ball burst Sunrisers had hoped they were buying when they signed him for ₹10 crore before the 2025 season. This time, though, he did it in LSG colours, and against SRH on their own ground.
The bare numbers were damaging enough. Shami completed his four overs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium with 2 for 9 and an economy rate of 2.25. He removed Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, two wickets that helped reduce SRH to 8 for 2 and then fed into a larger collapse that left them at 31 for 4 after 9 overs. The powerplay produced only 22 runs, a startling slowdown for a side built around early aggression.
The trade context made the damage sharper
This was not a routine matchup. Ahead of IPL 2026, SRH agreed to send Shami to LSG in a successful trade, with the fast bowler moving at his existing fee of ₹10 crore. In simple terms, SRH moved on from an expensive senior quick after one disappointing season, and LSG decided he was still worth the investment.
That matters because Mohammed Shami’s only season with SRH had been poor by both cost and output. He played 9 matches in IPL 2025, taking only 6 wickets. His bowling average was 56.16 and his economy rate 11.23, figures that suggested he was neither striking often enough nor controlling scoring phases. At one point last season, he also recorded 0 for 75 against the Punjab Kings, the second-most expensive spell in IPL history. SRH’s decision to move on, on form alone, was understandable.
{{/usCountry}}That matters because Mohammed Shami’s only season with SRH had been poor by both cost and output. He played 9 matches in IPL 2025, taking only 6 wickets. His bowling average was 56.16 and his economy rate 11.23, figures that suggested he was neither striking often enough nor controlling scoring phases. At one point last season, he also recorded 0 for 75 against the Punjab Kings, the second-most expensive spell in IPL history. SRH’s decision to move on, on form alone, was understandable.
{{/usCountry}}Also Read: SRH vs LSG LIVE Score, IPL 2026: Reddy, Klaasen partnership key as Sunrisers look to stage comeback
Why this spell hurt SRH beyond the wickets column
What made this spell especially damaging was not just the two wickets, but what they did to SRH’s innings design. Abhishek Sharma fell at 0.6 overs, Head at 2.1 overs, and Ishan Kishan was gone by 3.3 overs. That meant three top-order wickets were down inside the first four overs, forcing SRH’s middle order to bat in survival mode rather than attack mode. By the time Liam Livingstone fell at 7.1 overs, the innings had already been stripped of tempo.
Shami’s spell also stood apart within the innings itself. At the point he finished, no other LSG bowler who had completed an over was close to his control. Digvesh Singh Rathi had 1 for 10 in 2 overs, Prince Yadav 1 for 1 in 1 over, Avesh Khan 0 for 4 in 1, and Manimaran Siddharth 0 for 7 in 1. Shami did not merely strike early; he choked the scoring rate so hard that every other wicket began to feel reachable.
There was also a layer of irony in the method. Last year, SRH saw a version of Shami who leaked runs and rarely controlled an innings. Here, on the same franchise’s home ground, LSG got the exact opposite: a senior fast bowler who used the new ball to take out two left-handers, deny release shots, and drag the opposition deep into a hole before the innings had settled.
That is what makes this a haunting trade subplot for SRH. They let go of a bowler who had failed for them last year, and on this evidence, LSG may have acquired exactly the version of Shami that SRH thought they were buying in the first place.