Two time champions Kolktata Knight Riders surprised everyone with their retention announcements in November. 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. However, this decision meant that they had to let go of Shubman Gill, who was touted to be one of the leaders in the future for the franchise. Gill, after being released by KKR was drafted in by the Ahmedabad side for INR 8 crore ahead of the two-day auction.
Talking about the team's retentions in a live session for KKR, head coach 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."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 added. Gill had joined the two-time Champions for Rs 1.8 crore in 2018. They were keen to get his services and made the first bid after his price crossed Rs 75 lakh. KKR continued to bid and defeated Rajasthan Royals to make the winning bid.Gill was given the opening job on a consistent basis in 2020 and scored 440 runs in that season. In 2021, he was on the cusp of being dropped from the final XI. The right-handed batsman made an impressive comeback in the 2nd half of the season and finished with 478 runs in 17 matches.
