New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum has spoken about his team's plans for the IPL 2022 mega-auction. The coach also admitted that it was disappointing to lose the young and talented opener Shubman Gill, one of the most consistent performers of the Kolkata team.
Gill played 58 matches for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL. Two-time IPL champions KKR decided to not retain the Indian young opener ahead of the upcoming auction. Gill has been picked by the new IPL team Ahmedabad as their third draft pick for Rs 8 crore.
“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. 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,” McCullum said in a live session for KKR.
Kolkata Knight Riders spent 42 crores to retain four players before the upcoming mega auction. The two-time IPL champions retained two Indian players - Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy - and two foreigners players, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine.
Ahmedabad IPL team have announced Hardik Pandya as their captain. The franchise roped in Hardik Pandya, spinner Rashid Khan and Indian opener Shubman Gill as their draft picks ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction.