'It was disappointing to lose Shubman Gill,' KKR head coach Brendon McCullum talks about his plans for mega auction

The mega auction for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is going to take place on February 12 and February 13. This time, with the addition of two new teams (Lucknow and Ahmedabad), 10 teams are going to be involved in the auctions. 1,214 cricketers have already registered for the upcoming auctions. 

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise decided to retain Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. On the other hand, Indian batsman Shubman Gill was released by the KKR franchise. And unsurprisingly, this decision of was releasing Indian batsman Gill, baffled many experts and fans as well.

Releasing Gill

KKR decided to retain Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy (INR 8 crore) and all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer (INR 8 crore). While talking about the decision to release Gill, KKR head coach Brendon McCullum said that “it was disappointing” to lose Gill. 
 

"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," said McCullum during a live session for the KKR franchise.

Gill was eventually picked up by the new franchise Ahmedabad. Along with Gill (Rs 8 crore), the Ahmedabad team roped in Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya (Rs 15 crore) and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan (Rs 15 crore) and Pandya was chosen as the skipper of the Ahmedabad team as well. 

Retaining Russell and Narine

The KKR franchise, on the other hand, retained West Indies all-rounder Andre Russel and West Indies spinner Sunil Narine. While talking about the retentions, McCullum said that the two West Indies cricketers “have been proven campaigners for a decade.” 

"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.

Aussie player, Pat Cummins was also released by the franchise and while talking about the decision, McCullum said that he was a “pretty good buy” for the KKR team.

"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," explained the former New Zealand captain and wicketkeeper.