Shubman Gill, Who Earns INR 8 Crore As IPL Salary, Was Unaffected By Bid Amount During Maiden Auction

India batter Shubman Gill was all of 18 at the time of his first-ever Indian Premier League auction. Part of India’s Under-19 squad, Gill had become a crorepati whilst in his teens – a stage of life where most children of his age are busy figuring out a career path for themselves.

Additionally, earning in excess of INR 1 crore annually continues to be categorized as an unfulfilled dream. Gill, however, wasn’t thinking much about his price tag as disclosed by him to ESPNcricinfo a couple of days after the auction.

Gill, who was not only participating in ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2018 at the time, was also part of an unbeaten Indian spree. It was on the day of the auction that India U-19 had thrashed Bangladesh U-19 by 131 runs in Queenstown.

Shubman Gill Was Unaffected By Bid Amount During Maiden IPL Auction

With their individual focuses resting with a much bigger motive than an IPL bid, the Indian U-19 batch was advised by their head coach Rahul Dravid to concentrate on the task at hand.

The same can be corroborated by the fact that Gill hadn’t even realized that his bid amount had crossed INR 1 crore. In fact, when he turned the live stream on, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals were actively bidding for him with the hope of grabbing his services.

Satisfied about the fact that his IPL participation has been confirmed, Gill didn’t even wait for the auction process to come to an end. As a result, it was only after his mother called 10 minutes later that the right-handed batter was made aware about an INR 1.8 crore deal. The financial aspect, however, was none of Gill’s priorities at the moment.

“I haven’t yet thought about who I will get to play with or who all I can learn from. It feels very good to get a chance, but it’s important to live in the present and focus on the India-Pakistan semi-final,” Gill had told ESPNcricinfo.

It is to be noted that India had managed to defeat Pakistan by a mammoth 203 runs in the semi-final in Mount Maunganui before thumping over Australia by 8 wickets in Christchurch. Gill, who had scored a century against Pakistan, had ended up winning the Player of the Series award on the back of finishing the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer.

Shubman Gill Earns INR 8 Crore As IPL Salary

Gill, who represented Knight Riders for four seasons between 2018-2021, earned the same amount of money each year. Not among the four players retained by the franchise before IPL 2022 mega auction, Gill was expected to enter an IPL auction for the second time before the 15th season.

Having said that, Gujarat Titans didn’t let such a situation arise for Gill as his direct acquisition before the auction made him one of the three players bought by the franchise.

Their third-choice player, Gill was bought for INR 8 crore. While the 24-year old player deserves such a price for his offerings at this point in time, it will be interesting to see how GT rewards him with an increment in the years to come.