Kolkata: Chief coach Brendon McCullum has expressed his disappointment over losing KKR’s talented opener Shubman Gill ahead of the 2022 season of Indian Premier League.
The two-time champions decided to go with mystery spin bowler Varun Chakravarthy (INR 8 crore) and the all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer (INR 8 crore), who was one of the bright stars for KKR in the second half of the IPL 2021. Two overseas cricketers Andre Russell and Sunil Narine also retained by the team.
However, this decision meant that they had to let go of Shubman Gill, who was touted to be one of the best player in the future for the franchise. Gill, after being released by KKR was picked as the third draft by the new team Ahmedabad, who will make their debut next season. McCullum said that KKR will be prepared for the upcoming mega IPL auction which will take place on February 12 and 13.
In a live session for KKR, 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.”
Shubman was signed by KKR in 2018. He scored 1417 runs for the two-time IPL champions in 58 matches at an average of 31.49. The head coach also talked about the retention picks of KKR for the upcoming season of IPL.
“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,” the former New Zealand skipper added.
With 48 crore remaining in the purse, McCullum reckoned that one of the most important factors for them going into the auction will be to have a cover for injury-prone Russell, who is ‘two world-class players in one.’
“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 40-year old further explained.
The former New Zealand skipper also backed Australia pacer Pat Cummins, who was under scanner for his below-par performance in the past twoseasons. Cummins was signed by KKR for a whopping amount of INR 15.5 crore, however, the franchise released him ahead of the 2022 mega auction.
“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 concluded.
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