New Delhi, Nov 26 (IANS): Gujarat Titans have retained its skipper Hardik Pandya, putting an end to very heated speculations about his move back to Mumbai Indians. Apart from retaining 18 players, including Hardik, Gujarat have released eight players, with Shivam Mavi and Alzarri Joseph being notable ones.

Over the last few days, speculations had risen of Hardik moving back to Mumbai, the franchise from where he started his IPL career in 2015. From an uncapped player, Hardik rose to be Mumbai's vital cog in the wheel as a fast-bowling all-rounder, earning an India cap across all formats and was a member of their IPL title-winning seasons in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

He was released by Mumbai ahead of IPL 2022 mega auctions and became captain of Gujarat franchise, leading them to the title in their debut season in 2022, becoming Player of the Match in the final against Rajasthan Royals and led them to a runners-up finish in 2023.

Though Hardik is with Gujarat as of now, the IPL trade window is still open till December 12, which is a week before the auctions happening in Dubai on December 19. Apart from Mavi and Joseph, KS Bharat, Odean Smith and Dasun Shanaka are other released players by GT.

GT Retained Players: David Miller, Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Hardik Pandya, Abhinav Manohar, B Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Josh Little and Mohit Sharma

GT Released Players: Yash Dayal, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Pradeep Sangwan, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph and Dasun Shanaka