Jacques Kallis opines on Gautam Gambhir's future with KKR

The legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis has expressed his opinion on Gautam Gambhir’s retention for Kolkata Knight Riders franchise. January 4 is the deadline for the franchise owners to submit their final list of the players they have retained for the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL). Though it remains to be seen if Gambhir is retained by KKR, the side which comprises of a lot of other T20 specialists.

Gambhir is currently playing in the title clash for Delhi against Vidarbha in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. The veteran has been out of contention for the national side for a long time now and it seems that even his current franchise is losing interest in him. Recently, he had informed that none of the management members had spoken to him ahead of the player retention deadline. Also, even if he is not retained, the franchise can pick him back by using the Right to Match (RTM) card.

What did Kallis say on the matter?

Jacques Kallis is the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders and the team has done well under him as he also enjoys a fruitful relationship with Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir has been the captain of the side for the last few seasons and has won the title twice for the franchise. Even in the last edition they narrowly missed out on the berth to the finals after losing to Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier. While speaking to Hindustan Times, Kallis said that anything could happen until auction is done and also quashed the rumours of Gambhir not being retained by the franchise.

“I haven’t heard anything about that. You can’t say anything until the auction is done. You have to wait till it works out and which players we get to take,” he said when asked about the Indian veteran. Though he has avoided speaking about Gambhir’s retention, it seems that KKR is not interested to stay with him. However, even the left-handed batsman had earlier expressed that he is open to playing with other teams.

“It is very surprising that I have not spoken to anyone (in KKR management). I don’t know about myself [future with KKR]. We’ll probably sit and talk after the Ranji final. But yes I am [open to playing for another franchise],” Gambhir had said.

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