'Shami was part of our retention plans' - Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra reveals behind ace speedster's release

Gujarat Titans (GT) head coach Ashish Nehra revealed why Mohammed Shami was released by the franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. The 2022 champions had the option of exercising the Right To Match (RTM) card but they decided against it and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) acquired the star pacer's services for INR 10 crore.

Last month, the Titans surprised the cricket fraternity by not retaining Shami, who picked up 48 wickets for the franchise in just two seasons. However, the Shubman Gill-led side had one RTM card heading into the auction and it was expected that it would be exercised to bring back the Bengal pacer. However, it wasn't to be as Shami joined the 2016 champions for the first time.

Nehra said they wanted to retain Shami but had already retained many important players. Regarding using RTM for the 34-year-old pacer, the management felt INR 10 crore was a bit too much and hence GT could not bring the speedster back into their team, Nehra explained.

"Whatever he has done for GT and for India, I mean he was part of our retention (plans) also. But again, you see retention is that kind of a thing. Mohammed Shami, Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudharsan -- every team has so many options. Then we had RTM also, that maybe we can use RTM (at the auction) and take him; but the kind of price he went (for)," Nehra told Jio Cinema.

Also Check: GT Team 2025 Player List: Complete Gujarat Titans (GT) Squad and Players List for IPL 2025

Whatever Mohammed Shami has done for GT and those three years will always be memorable: Ashish Nehra

Nehra lauded Shami for his contribution in the last couple of years for the Titans and admitted that certain auction strategies could not turn out the way one would envisage.

"It doesn't matter whatever strategy you have, when it comes to open auction, your strategy is not going to be successful all the time," the former India pacer said.

"Definitely, whatever Mohammed Shami has done for GT and those three years will always be memorable," he added.

Shami recently made his comeback from an ankle injury during the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 encounter between Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. He is currently playing for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024, where he has picked up four wickets from three matches.