Gujarat Titans have announced a new captain in Shubman Gill after Hardik Pandya's trade to Mumbai Indians was officially confirmed ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. This is a huge development only a day after it was revealed that Hardik has been retained by the IPL 2022 champions. A lot of reports were doing the rounds even before the retention that the all-rounder would be going back to his old franchise in one of the biggest trades in IPL history.
Meanwhile, this is a huge opportunity for Shubman Gill now who is fast emerging as the superstar of Indian cricket. He started his IPL career with Kolkata Knight Riders but has done superbly in the last two seasons for the Titans. He was the leading run-getter last season scoring 890 runs in 17 innings at an average of 59.33 and a strike-rate of 157.80. Even in IPL 2022 when GT won the trophy in its first year itself, Gill had amassed 483 runs in 16 innings.
"I am delighted and proud to assume the captaincy of Gujarat Titans and thank the franchise for their trust in me to lead such a fine team. We have had two exceptional seasons and I keenly look forward to leading the team with our exciting brand of cricket," Gill said.
Interestingly, Hardik Pandya's transfer is the one-way trade with Gujarat Titans not seeking any player from the five-time champions Mumbai Indians. This has boosted their purse as well to INR 38.25 crore for the auction which is the maximums among all 10 teams. Gujarat Titans have also thanked Hardik, their erstwhile captain, for his services over the past two seasons.
Gujarat Titans retained players:
Abhinav Sadarangani, B. Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, David Miller, Jayant Yadav, Joshua Little, Kane Williamson, Matthew Wade, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, R. Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha
Purse remaining: INR 38.15 crore
Squad strength: 17
Available slots: 8
Available overseas slots: 2
