IPL 2022 | It was disappointing to lose Shubhman Gill, says Brendon McCullum

IPL 2022 will start with a new dynamic as the tournament will be a 10-team affair and there will be a mega auction ahead of the season. The teams have announced their final list of retentions ahead of the mega auction. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have named Andre Russell ( ₹12 crore), Varun Chakravarthy ( ₹8 crore), Venkatesh Iyer ( ₹8 crore) and Sunil Narine ( ₹6 crore) as their four retentions. Surprisingly the franchise released Shubhman Gill who was picked by the Ahmedabad franchise. 

Reflecting on the move to release Gill, KKR head coach Brendon McCullum has said that it was disappointing to lose the youngster. 

"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," McCullum said on a live session for KKR. 

KKR had brought Gill for 1.8 Crore rupees in auction for the 2018 season. He has scored 1,417 runs for the franchise in 58 matches at strike rate of 123. McCullum said that Narine and Russell have been proven campaigners for the team. 

"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," said McCullum.

KKR have also released Pat Cummins but McCullum pointed out that he was impressive for the franchise. 

"I think Pat Cummins was a pretty good buy. While some would say he did not perform as he should have, I disagree. He was brilliant across disciplines without statistically being a really high achiever. You are prepared to go hard for guys like him," he concluded.