‘Kolkata, you were a dream’ – Shubman Gill bids emotional goodbye to Kolkata Knight Riders

Shubman Gill has been snapped by the Ahmedabad franchise which ends his journey with the two-times champion Kolkata Knight Riders. Gill became a part of the franchise in 2018 after he was picked for INR 1.8 crores from his base price of INR 20 lakh. He became a part of the IPL after his heroics in the Under-19 World Cup 2018 which India won after defeating Australia in the final. Gill won the Player of the Tournament award for his batting performance.

He was the leading run-scorer for India in the tournament, as he made 372 runs in six matches at an average of 124 and a strike rate of 112.39. Gill has made 1417 runs in 58 IPL matches at an average of 31.48 and a strike rate of 123. He won the Emerging Player of the Year award in 2019.

Gill was not retained by the KKR before the IPL 2022 Auction. BCCI allowed the old eight franchises to retain four players before the mega auction. KKR went in with Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, and Sunil Narine. After he was picked by the Ahmedabad franchise, Gill took to Instagram to upload a video montage of himself along with the following caption:

“Kolkata, you were a dream.”

Here’s the video uploaded by Shubman Gill:

 

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A post shared by Ꮪhubman Gill (@shubmangill)

Ahmedabad and Lucknow are the two new franchises that will take part in the upcoming season of the IPL. Ahmedabad is owned by CVC Capitals and has decided to pick Gill, Hardik Pandya, and Rashid Khan. Hardik would be captaining the side and has been picked for INR 15 crores. Afghanistan spinner Rashid has also been picked for INR 15 crores. Gill is the third draft pick for the franchise for INR eight crores. Lucknow has picked KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, and Ravi Bishnoi. Rahul would be the captain of the franchise.

Kolkata Knight Riders also uploaded a photo and video of Gill and thanked him for his contribution for four years.

Thank you for being a part of some of our fondest memories over the last four years. Go well, champ,” KKR captioned the post.

 

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A post shared by Kolkata Knight Riders (@kkriders)