IPL 2022 Auction: Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum said that it was disappointing to lose young and talented opener Shubman Gill, who was picked up by Ahmedabad, one of the two new franchises, ahead of the 2022 IPL mega auction. Shubman Gill, who was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders from the IPL 2018, has played 58 matches for the two-time champions. Follow IPL 2022 Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Speaking in a live session organised by KKR ahead of the upcoming auction, Brendon McCullum said, “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.”
IPL 2022 Auction: KKR coach Brendon McCullum rues losing Shubman Gill to Ahmedabad but says ‘We are ready for auction’
“I’d love to hear some suggestions from the fans: Which players do they think we should target and also, why?” – @Bazmccullum
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IPL 2022 Auction: KKR coach Brendon McCullum rues losing Shubman Gill to Ahmedabad but says ‘We are ready for auction’
Since a franchise could retain only a maximum of four players ahead of the mega auction this year, KKR chose to retain Andre Russell (12 Crores), Varun Chakravarthy (8 Crores), Venkatesh Iyer (8 Crores) and Sunil Narine (6 crores). Shubman Gill was left out and he has been picked by Ahmedabad, as their third draft pick for Rs 8 crore.
IPL 2022 Auction: KKR coach Brendon McCullum rues losing Shubman Gill to Ahmedabad but says ‘We are ready for 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 added.
“Certainly not easy to find a backup for someone like Andre Russell and that’s why he is such an important re-signing. When he is at his best, he is effectively two world-class players in one. It’s really challenging to find a backup for these players. That will be the topic of our conversation. If Dre Russ is out due to injury, you could need two players, a batter and a bowler, and try to balance things out accordingly,” the KKR coach further said.
In the five seasons that Gill played for KKR, he has scored 1417 runs at an average of 31.4 and a strike rate of 123, including 10 fifties.
IPL 2022 Auction: KKR coach Brendon McCullum rues losing Shubman Gill to Ahmedabad but says ‘We are ready for auction’
