Subramaniam Badrinath reveals one player SRH should release before IPL 2026 auction

Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath reckons Sunrisers Hyderabad should release fast bowler Mohammed Shami ahead of IPL 2026 auction. Shami was bought for a huge amount of INR 10 crore but his performances in the shortest format haven’t been promising.

The fast bowler scalped six wickets in nine matches of IPL 2025 at an average of 56.16 and an economy rate of 11.23 and thus could not deliver for Pat Cummins’ team. The veteran fast bowler has scalped 15 wickets in three Ranji Trophy matches for Bengal, but he has been ignored by the selectors.

The former CSK batter, Badrinath, said SRH should release Shami purely on his fitness.

Badrinath said on Star Sports, “The one name I see in SRH straightaway is Mohammed Shami (for releasing). Shami purely because of his fitness. Mohammed Shami is on the downslide. In fact, if I was sitting at the auction table, I won’t even go for Mohammed Shami. He has not played cricket at all and fitness is not his forte. So they’ll release him straightaway. With that, they’ll get a huge amount of Rs. 10 crores.”

The former right-hander said SRH should retain the rest of the squad ahead of the next season of the IPL.

“Apart from that, for the brand of cricket they play, this is a superb team. I don’t think they need to change anything else. They’ve a superb captain with a great top order. They just need to find the right combination,” he stated.

Badrinath highlighted that all teams will think a lot before releasing a big player.

“All teams will think a lot before releasing a big name. Because releasing them creates a lot of insecurity for the franchise on whether they’ll get someone suited to that role. We look at the price number but teams look only at the player and the position,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).

Meanwhile, SRH had failed to qualify for the playoffs in the previous season as they had finished in sixth place in the standings with six wins, seven losses, and one no-result.