Retention special

Parthiv Patel: Gujarat Titans’ assistant coach Parthiv Patel detailed the reasoning and approach behind the IPL 2026 retention strategy, also sharing insights from discussions with captain Shubman Gill and the coaching team, saying that the skipper is ‘very assertive about his thinking,’ and added that the trait helps in building the squad.

GT retained their core and released Dasun Shanaka, Mahipal Lomror, Karim Janat, Gerald Coetzee, and Kulwant Khejroliya from their squad, while trading Sherfane Rutherford to the Mumbai Indians.

Speaking of the team’s strategy behind taking the calls, Parthiv, while speaking on JioStar’s IPL 2026 ‘Retention Special’ show, said, “The kind of squad we had built, it is very important for us to make sure that we keep that continuity going. And that's exactly what we tried to do. I thought last year in the auction we had built a solid squad. And unfortunately, we could not go all the way. I think that is the reason why we have not let go of a lot of players.”