I was wondering why my auction stopped at 1.10 crore…I wanted to be picked by Gujarat Titans: Shivam Mavi

A head of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League, Gujarat Titans pacer Shivam Mavi has said that he wants to help the team win the title for a second year in a row.

“Like last year we (Gujarat Titans) won here now that I have joined them, I am thinking I want to help us be champions again,” said the pacer in a recent video from the franchise.

Up until IPL 2022, Mavi was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad. The two-time champions acquired Mavi ahead of the IPL 2018 auction following his performances at the U-19 World Cup that year in New Zealand.

Sharing his auction story, the 24-year old said, “During the auctions, I was in Nagaland playing a Ranji Trophy match for Uttar Pradesh. You must have seen earlier that my auction stopped at 1.10 crore Rupees and I was wondering why it stopped so early.”

“I wanted to be picked by the Gujarat Titans because I was excited to play with them. I had heard that the management and the captain here are very good. I have met all of them earlier. That nature and the atmosphere of the team is really good, that's why I wanted to be picked by GT,” he added.

The U-19 World Cup-winning player also said that he’s looking forward to playing alongside long-time friend and India teammate Shubman Gill.

“I am very excited to play with Shubman. Obviously it feels very good, since our Under-19 days we have played together. We played our U19 series together, then the World Cup together, then we were at Kolkata Knight Riders together, then we played for India and now for Gujarat Titans.” he said.

Speaking about his captain Hardik Pandya, the right-arm fast bowler revealed how he helped him during his debut and said, “I played with Hardik Bhaiya for India and he supported me a lot during my debut. He didn’t let me feel any pressure.”

“Obviously when you play your first match there's a lot of pressure on you but he told me to bowl without worrying. He advised me to bowl just like I did during IPL and Ranji. For a youngster, it feels great to have such support,” he added.

Defending champions Gujarat Titans will begin their IPL campaign against Chennai Super Kings on Friday, March 31 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.