‘It was disappointing to lose Shubman Gill’ – KKR head coach Brendon McCullum ahead of IPL 2022

A few days away from the IPL 2022 mega auction, Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum has stated his disappointment on losing one of the upcoming youngsters, Shubman Gill. The 22-year-old could not find a place in the KKR retention list, and was subsequently picked up the new Ahmedabad franchise for 8 crore. Gill made his IPL debut in 2018 and was one of the most consistent performers for the KKR.

KKR opted to retain the likes of Andre Russell(12 Cr), Sunil Narine(6 Cr), Varun Chakravarthy(8 Cr) and Venkatesh Iyer (8 Cr) and they still have 48 Crores remaining in the purse for the mega auction. The franchise is yet to name a captain, which means they will have to go all out for a captain in the mega auction as well. The two-time IPL champions have also roped in Bharat Arun for the upcoming season as the bowling coach.

You’re going to lose a lot of players – Brendon McCullum

McCullum admitted the disappointment of losing Gill ahead of the mega auction and noted about the preparations for the mega auction being in the right place. He explained the reasons behind the four retentions and was quite happy to have them back in the side. The KKR side reached the finals of the IPL 2021 with a tremendous change around but was unfortunate to not have won the title as they lost to the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings side in the final.

“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

Meanwhile, Gill missed the recent tour to South Africa due to injury concerns and he is expected to be fit and ready for the home Tests against Sri Lanka. The youngster has splayed 58 IPL games so far, scoring 1417 runs at an average of 31.5 and a strike rate of 123.