Shubman Gill was roped in by Ahmedabad franchise for INR 8 crores ahead of IPL 2022 auction.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Brendon McCullum expressed his disappointment in losing young opener Shubman Gill ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. The mega-auction is scheduled for February 12-13 in Bengaluru.
KKR retained Andre Russell (₹12 crores), Varun Chakravarthy (₹8 crores), Venkatesh Iyer (₹8 crores), and Sunil Narine (₹6 crores) before the mega auction. The runner-ups of IPL 2021 had to part ways with some prominent names including Shubman Gill.
Making his debut for KKR in 2018, Shubman Gill turned out to be a vital cog for the two-time champions. The right-hander scored 203 runs batting down the order in his first season in the tournament. However, after that, he was promoted up the order and he didn’t disappoint and was one of the main reasons for the franchise’s success.
Shubman Gill played 58 matches for KKR and scored 1417 runs at a strike rate of 123. The right-hander will not be a part IPL 2022 auction as he was drafted by the new Ahmedabad-based franchise for an amount of INR 8 crores. The other two players drafted by them were Hardik Pandya, who will captain the side, and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan.
Speaking in a live session for KKR, head coach Brendon McCullum said that it was disappointing for his side to lose Shubman Gill but admitted that they are well prepared for the upcoming IPL 2022 auction.
“You need to plan as you’re going to lose a lot of players. It was disappointing to lose Shubman Gill. But that’s the way life is sometimes and we will be well prepared for the upcoming auction," Brendon McCullum said.
McCullum talked about their retention picks for the IPL 2022 and highlighted their impact in the past seasons.
“Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have been proven campaigners for a decade. We have all seen what Varun Chakravarthy is capable of in the last two seasons. Venkatesh Iyer was probably the story of the second half of IPL 2021," he said.
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Brendon McCullum further said that Pat Cummins was a good buy for them. He defended the pacer, saying that many said that he didn’t perform as he should’ve but he was brilliant for them.
“I think Pat Cummins was a pretty good buy. While some would say he did not perform as he should have, I disagree. He was brilliant across disciplines without statistically being a really high achiever. You are prepared to go hard for guys like him," he said.
Notably, KKR bought Pat Cummins for a whopping amount of INR 15.50 crores in 2020. The Australian Test skipper took 21 wickets in the last two seasons for the franchise. He also played some valiant knocks with the bat.
The much-awaited IPL 2022 mega-auction is scheduled to take place on 12th and 13th February in Bangalore.
(News 18 inputs)