While the Gujarat Titans (GT) lost Hardik Pandya last season, they still had quite a few stars in their squad, and Shubman Gill is only one of them. Now, in order to help GT retain those core group of players, the skipper has reportedly asked the franchise to take a pay cut! Yes, according to the Times of India, Gill has accepted a splash in pay cheque to allow GT to retain as many as five players ahead of IPL 2025 retentions.
Shubman Gill to continue as GT captain in IPL 2025
“Shubman Gill has taken this step for the franchise as he wanted GT to enter the auction with as much money in the purse as possible. There were plenty of talented players in the existing pool and the captain taking a paycut has allowed the franchise to retain a lot of them. At such a young age, Gill has already started thinking as a leader and is in constant discussions about the mega auction, and the road ahead,” a source close to Gujarat Titans told TOI.
While there were murmurs of Gill leaving GT. However, this solidifies that the partnership between the Prince of Indian cricket and the IPL 2022 champions will continue to prosper. Gill was one of their draft players at Rs 8 crore. He took over the captaincy in IPL 2024 when Pandya left for the Mumbai Indians (MI). While Gill didn’t have a fruitful season as skipper, he is destined for bigger things come the IPL 2025.
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Gill to earn less than Rashid Khan at GT?
Gill’s decision to take a pay cut also means that Rashid Khan might be Gujarat’s top retention pick, irrespective of him not being the skipper. After all, he considered the best spinner in the T20 format (if not the best bowler). Hence, he would (fairly) be asking to get retained at the maximum price bracket, i.e., Rs 18 crore. Moreover, Rashid is just a few games away from creating history as he is only 19 wickets short from getting the title of the ‘bowler with the most T20 wickets in history’. In 445 T20 innings, he has 613 wickets at a phenomenal economy of 6.48.