Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) chief coach Brendon McCullum admits that it is disappointing for the Franchise to have lost such a young and talented opener, Shubman Gill.
Gill had played 58 matches for KKR in the IPL (Indian Premier League), before the two-time IPL champions, KKR decides not to retain the player. He was later picked by the new Ahmedabad Franchise as their third draft pic for Rs 8 crore.
McCullum in a live session said that one needs to plan as they are going to lose a lot of players. It was disappointing to have lost the 22-year-old. But McCullum believes that the way life is sometimes and they will be well prepared for the upcoming auction.
KKR has retained four players, including two cricketers from West Indies, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine, spending 42 crores ahead of the mega auction. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer and spinner Varun Chakravarthy have been retained by the team as well.
The KKR coach further said that Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have been proven campaigners for a decade. McCullum appreciates Varun Chakravarty’s by saying that everyone has witnessed what Varun Chakravarthy is capable of in the last two seasons. He also describes Venkatesh Iyer as probably the story of the second half of the IPL 2021.
“It is 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 of these players. If Andre Russell is out due to injury, you could need two players, a batter and a bowler, and try to balance things out accordingly”, said McCullum to IANS.