Touted as India’s next batting star, Shubman Gill on Thursday (December 23) said that he would like to play for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) forever if given a choice.
Last month, KKR revealed their list of retained players and Gill’s name didn’t feature in it. The 22-year-old was once seen as KKR's future captain but he will now throw himself into the IPL 2022 mega auction, likely to be held in the first week of February.
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"The kind of bond I have with the KKR franchise is something really special to me," Gill said in a short-film titled 'Love, Faith and Beyond'.
"Once you're associated with a franchise you would want to carry on and play with them forever... And if I would be able to play in purple and gold, I would play forever," he added.
Knight Riders roped in Shubman Gill for INR 1.8 crore at the IPL 2018 auction. He impressed one and all in his very first season, scoring 203 runs in 13 matches at a strike-rate of 146.04.
However, Gill drew criticism in the last two seasons for his poor conversion rate and low strike-rate. Overall, he played 58 matches for KKR, amassing 1417 runs at a strike rate of 123.00 with 10 half-centuries.
"Not every year you can have all the best teammates or all the best players or all your best friends in one team. Instead of cribbing about the fact that we don't have them we should cherish the time that we had with them," Gill added.
With this 11-minute short-film, KKR's paid tribute to some of the best and the brightest players who were a part of the franchise.
"Ideally, there are so many players you want to retain but it just does not work that way," MD & CEO, KKR Venky Mysore said.
"They are a bunch of highly talented kids, very motivated, grounded and have a deep desire to succeed."
Assistant coach of KKR Abhishek Nayar said: "Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, will never forget this franchise, as it stood by them when no one else did.
"When KKR invested in the youngsters, their vision was purely for the guys to feel more connected to the franchise. KKR wanted the players to know that it was about the franchise caring for the players and helping them grow & become better cricketers."
(With PTI inputs)
