Gujarat Titans COO claims an IPL franchise contacted Mohammed Shami directly, terms method “wrong”
Even as Gujarat Titans (GT) are looking to overcome the loss of Hardik Pandya, the franchise’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Colonel Arvinder Singh has claimed that a franchise contacted their star pacer Mohammed Shami directly.
Pandya, who led GT in the first two seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL), was retained by the Titans when the retention list was announced. However, not long after, reports emerged that the all-rounder had been traded to Mumbai Indians (MI). The trade was officially confirmed a day later.
Now, in an interview with News18, Gujarat Titans COO Singh has stated that a franchise also approached Shami. Expressing disappointment over teams directly approaching players, Singh was quoted as saying by NDTV:
"Every franchise has the right to go for top players. The wrong part is that if an IPL franchise directly approaches a player. The method is wrong and the GT team management is not happy with the approach. The BCCI's rule regarding player trade-odds, how the expression of interest cane be made to BCCI and then they will inform us. Then the franchise decides."
“This IPL team approached our coaching staff which is wrong. If they wanted the transfer, they could have talked to us upfront. We got to know about the approach later on,” he went on to add.
Shami had a brilliant IPL 2023 season, claiming 28 wickets in 17 matches at an average of 18.64 and an economy rate of 8.03.
Gujarat Titans Team Director Vikram Solanki confirmed Pandya’s interest in moving back to MI
Earlier, Gujarat Titans Team Director Vikram Solanki had confirmed that Pandya had expressed his interest in being traded to Mumbai Indians, his original IPL franchise.
Releasing an official statement over the trade, Solanki praised the all-rounder and said:
"As the first captain of Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya has helped the franchise deliver two fantastic seasons that resulted in winning one IPL championship and one appearance in the final."
"He has now expressed a desire to return to his original team Mumbai Indians. We respect his decision and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours," the former England cricketer added.
Pandya was a pivotal member of the Gujarat Titans franchise, which made its IPL debut in the 2022 season. He led the side to IPL glory in its maiden season in the T20 league. Under Pandya, Gujarat finished runners-up in IPL 2023, going down to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the final.