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The Titans are set to keep hold of the skipper, Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan and the left-handed batter Sai Sudarshan.
Mohammed Shami could be released from the Gujarat Titans ahead of the IPL 2025 mega-auction. (Image: Sportzpics)
The veteran India pacer, Mohammed Shami could be released by the Gujarat Titans as the deadline for franchises to announce their final list of retention approaches.
According to a report by Press Trust of India (PTI), the Titans are set to keep hold of the skipper, Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan and the left-handed batter Sai Sudarshan.
In addition, stars like Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan will also be retained by the side as uncapped players.
“Shubman, Rashid and Sai will be retained by the franchise,” said an IPL source as quoted by PTI.
Gill who opens the batting for the franchise is looked at as a future leader within Indian cricket. He began his leadership stint with the franchise last season where they finished eighth in the league standings.
Shami has not played a single game of competitive cricket since his brilliant performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup where he finished as the leading wicket-taker. The franchise could be reflecting on his injury struggles as a primary reason for releasing the experienced pacer.
Titans had won the IPL on debut in 2022 before finishing runners-up the following year, both under Hardik Pandya’s leadership.
The decision to retain Rashid is also on the expected lines. The 26-year-old took 19 wickets in his maiden season with the team in 2022 before collecting 27 wickets in the following season. His form dipped this season when he took 10 wickets in 12 games at an average of 36.70.
Sudharsan will also be retained ahead of the deadline on October 31 after a breakout year when he amassed 527 runs in 12 games including a hundred. The young batter has featured in three ODIs and a T20 for the national team.
The uncapped Shahrukh Khan has had an impressive strike-rate of 169.33 and keeping a hold of him at INR 4 crores would be a bargain for the franchise. Tewatia on the other hand has massive experience playing in the IPL where he now finds himself as the side’s designated finisher. He holds a strike rate of over 145 in the previous season.
The mega auction is likely to be held overseas in the last week of November. The auction purse has been increased to Rs 120 crore from the Rs 100 crore teams had at their disposal at last year’s auction.
The total salary cap now consists of an auction purse, incremental performance pay and match fees. The match fee, set at Rs 7.5 lakh per game, has been introduced ahead of the next season.
The teams can retain up to six players, via retention or right-to-match, from the existing squad, the highest in IPL history.
(with PTI Inputs)
