New Delhi: Shubman Gill has set a great example for others to follow. The Gujarat Titans captain has put his ego aside by agreeing to become the second player retained by the IPL franchise ahead of the October 31 deadline.
Gill, who led the Titans for the first time this season, has agreed to sacrifice millions for the greater good of the team as both he and the management are keen to retain the core group of players. Gill’s demotion as the franchise’s second retained player means the first retention for the franchise would be Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan. After Gill, Sai Sudharsan and two uncapped players – Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan will be the other retained players by the 2022 champions.
Besides the five retained players, Titans will also have the option of retaining another squad member via the right-to-match (RTM) card at the mega auction next month. Gill, 24, is seen as a future leader in the Indian cricket setup and has plenty of good cricketing years ahead of him and could earn better contracts in future.
“Gill has decided to take a pay cut to ensure the core players are retained and build a stronger team,” an IPL source said.
IPL retention guidelines
According to the IPL retention guidelines, a franchise will lose Rs 18 crore from the increased purse of Rs 120 crore for the first player retained, Rs 14 crore for the second, and Rs 11 crore for the third while for the uncapped players, a team will have to spend Rs 4 crore each.
In case a franchise retains five capped players, they will lose Rs 75 crore from the auction pot.
The mega auction is set to be held overseas in the last week of November. The auction purse has soared to Rs 120 crore from the Rs 100 crore from last year’s auction.
The franchises can retain up to six players, via retention or right-to-match, from the existing squad.
Gill does a Dhoni
Ahead of the 2022 edition, MS Dhoni gave up his top retention slot for Ravindra Jadeja with the star all-rounder getting Rs 16 crore. The star all-rounder led Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2022 but relinquished the leadership duties midway into the tournament after a disastrous start to the campaign, forcing Dhoni to return as skipper.
Ahead of the 2024 mega-auction, CSK is likely to choose Jadeja again as their top retention while Dhoni is set to be retained as an uncapped player.
