Captain Shubman Gill, star spinner Rashid Khan and left-handed batter Sai Sudharsan are likely to feature in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) retention list for the IPL 2025 season.
Uncapped hitters Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan are expected to be retained by the franchise as well.
"Shubman, Rashid, and Sai will be retained by the franchise," an IPL source confirmed, as quoted by new agency PTI.
Widely regarded as India’s future all-format captain, Gill led the Titans for the first time earlier this year but failed to create an impact with the team finishing at eighth spot in the 10-team points table.
GT had a successful debut in the IPL, winning the tournament in 2022 before finishing as runners-up the following year. Hardik Pandya, who moved back to Mumbai Indians last year, led the side in the first two seasons.
The decision to retain Rashid aligns with expectations. The leg-spinner picked up 19 wickets in his maiden season with the team in 2022 and followed that up with 27 wickets the next season. However, his performance dipped this year, with just 10 wickets in 12 games at an average of 36.70.
Sudharsan is also set to be retained ahead of the October 31 deadline after he amassed 527 runs in 12 games this season, including a century.
Uncapped player Shahrukh Khan impressed with a strike rate of 169.33 and is considered a bargain at Rs 4 crore for the franchise. Tewatia, who has the experience of 93 IPL matches, is another player the Titans are likely to keep hold of, having batted with a strike rate above 145 last season.
The mega auction is expected to be held overseas in the last week of November. The auction purse has been increased to Rs 120 crore, up from Rs 100 crore last year. This total salary cap now includes the auction purse, incremental performance pay, and match fees, with the match fee set at Rs 7.5 lakh per game for the upcoming season.
As per the retention rules, each of the 10 IPL franchises can retain up to six cricketers, through the retention and Right To Match (RTM) option.
(With PTI Inputs)
