Last Updated on 6 months by Charbel Coorey

The upcoming mega auction is a very important one for Gujarat Titans (GT) as they lost Hardik Pandya to the Mumbai Indians and they didn’t have a successful season in IPL 2024.

They have a young squad with quality players and can have a strong core for the auction if they are smart with their retentions. The likes of Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Sai Sudarshan, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, Kane Williamson and others are proven performers and match-winners in the IPL.

However, it can be a little tricky for them in selecting whom to retain ahead of the auction with the new retention rules. Before talking about Gujarat’s possible retentions, let’s first understand these rules.

IPL 2025 Retention Rules

Teams are allowed to retain up to six players either through direct retentions or using the Right to Match (RTM). There is no limit for the retentions of overseas players but teams can retain a maximum of two uncapped players. Any Indian player who has last played in international cricket at least five years ago and has no central contract from the BCCI can be retained as an “uncapped player”.

RTMs will depend on the number of retentions (6 – No. of Players Retained). The salary caps for the retained players is:

• 1st Retention: 18 Crores
• 2nd Retention: 14 Crores
• 3rd Retention: 11 Crores
• 4th Retention: 18 Crores
• 5th Retention: 14 Crores
• Uncapped Player: 4 Crores

So teams will have to be cautious while retaining the 4th & 5th player as releasing them now and buying them back using the RTM may be a better deal as there aren’t many players who will fetch more than what the amount they’ll be retained for.

Players GT should retain in IPL 2025: Backing Quality Youngsters or Experience?

As mentioned earlier, GT have a lot of quality youngsters coupled with some of the veterans of the game. It’ll be interesting to see who they go with as their retentions and how many players they choose to retain. But the first two are no brainers for them.

Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill is among the best youngsters in world cricket. He’s already won the Orange Cap back in 2023 where he scored a 890 runs in 17 games at an average of 59.30 at a strike rate of 157.80. He has four centuries in the IPL alongside 20 fifties.

Gill is a quality batter and he is also the captain of the Gujarat Titans. He was recently named the vice-captain of the Indian side. Gill is just 25 years old with plenty of experience in the IPL and it will be a no-brainer for the Titans to retain him.

Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan is among the first names on any team sheet in any league around the world. I’m not quite sure but he can be the first retention for the Titans over Gill, but he will most certainly be in the top two given his matchwinning ability.

Rashid has the second-most wickets in T20s with 613 wickets. He is just behind Dwayne Bravo (631 wickets) who has played a 134 more games. 

Sai Sudharsan

Now comes the interesting and tricky part for the Titans. They have many options as their third retention. They have the likes of Sai Sudarsan, Noor Ahmad, David Miller & Mohammed Shami who are proven performers in the IPL.

I feel they should go with Sai Sudarsan as he’s young and provides a good left-hand option at the top alongside Shubman Gill. He has done well in the last couple of seasons for the Titans.

Sai scored 527 runs in 12 games at an average of 47.90 at a strike-rate of 141.30 including two fifties and a hundred. He can easily go around 11 crores or more in the auction and it will be a wise decision to retain him rather than taking the risk of buying him back using the RTM.

Mohit Sharma

Mohit Sharma last played in international cricket back in October 2015 . With the new uncapped rule, Gujarat can retain him as an uncapped player for 4 crores.

Mohit has been a key bowler for the Titans in the last couple of years. He won the Purple Cap in IPL 2023 with 27 wickets in 17 games at an economy of 8.17 and an impressive strike-rate of just 9.8.

He didn’t have a great season in 2024: 13 wickets in 11 games at an economy of 10.90 and a strike rate of 18. However, domestic pace options are a premium and getting someone experienced for 4 crores might be a wise decision.

Right to Match Picks for Gujarat Titans

I feel they should go use their RTM for Noor Ahmad in the auction. He has picked up 109 wickets in 95 T20s at an economy of 7.24 and strike rate of 19.60. The left-arm chinaman spinner brings variety in any bowling attack.

Noor is in great form in 2024 in T20s: 47 wickets in 30 games at an economy of 6.87 at a strike rate of 14.60. Noor is a rare commodity in T20 cricket and forms arguably the best spin attack in the tournament alongside Rashid Khan.

There are other good options for Gujarat Titans to consider with players like Mohammed Shami, David Miller, Kane Williamson, Rahul Tewatia, R Sai Kishore & even Shahrukh Khan. It is questionable as to any of those players will go for 14 or 18 crores in the auction, so GT could purchase them at a cheaper rate using the RTM.

Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudarshan, Mohit Sharma (uncapped) & using RTM for Noor Ahmad is a sound strategy. GT will have a quality core of players who are young and proven performers. They can use RTM for one of Miller or Shami in the auction. Gujarat Titans have lot of quality in their ranks. They’ll look to build a strong squad to help them lift their second IPL title.