Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) CEO and managing director Venky Mysore on Sunday insisted he “did not regret” losing players who are now shining for other franchises, including Shubman Gill.
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Mysore, who maintained the decision to release players was based on “available information”, expressed happiness at the manner in which some of their former players were doing elsewhere in the IPL.
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“There is actually happiness when we see some of the players we have developed go to other franchises and do well — Shubman Gill is an example,” Mysore was quoted as saying, according to PTI.
“It’s always difficult to lose such players and when they do such well. Yesterday also I was telling Gill (49) that I was enjoying your batting but I was hoping that you would not take the game away from us. score some runs, but let us… (win),” Mysore added.
Shortly after helping the India U-19 team win the 2018 World Cup, Gill was picked up by the Knight Riders for Rs 1.8 crore and would go on to represent them for four seasons, cementing his spot in the side as an opener.
Gill, however, was released by KKR ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction and new entrants Gujarat Titans were quick to welcome him onboard. The Punjab batter would then go on to score 483 runs that season — his most productive with the bat in the IPL — at an average of 34.5 with four half-centuries, playing an important role in the Hardik Pandya-led side winning the IPL title on debut.
Gill, who had been in roaring form for Team India across formats earlier this year, appears to have carried on from where he left off in the IPL last year. The 23-year-old has smashed 333 runs in eight outings so far this season at an average of 41.63 with three half-centuries to his credit.
On Saturday, Gill produced a 35-ball 49 against his former team that setup a comfortable seven-wicket victory for GT over KKR.
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Blaming it on the IPL rules, Mysore said: “The limitation as you know, the rules the IPL and BCCI make. In 2022 auction, we were allowed to keep only four players. There’s always a debate. There is always eight or nine whom we would like to keep, you had to select four out of those.”
“It’s tough but that’s the system though. It happens to every team. (KKR captain) Shreyas (Iyer) was with Delhi and he’s with us, so on and forth… I can give any number of example.”
“It’s never a regret, and the decisions were made based on the set of information that was available at that point. We believe those were the right decisions we made, but it’s always tough to lose some players.”
KKR had retained Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine ahead of IPL 2022.
“Iyer, Varun took us to the final in 2021. Russell arguably the best T20 all-rounder, Narine I don’t have to say much about him. Those decisions were difficult and in the process you just let some players go.
“Rahul Tripathi (8.5 crores to Sunrisers Hyderabad), Lockie Ferguson (Rs 10 crores GT), Prasidh Krishna (Rs 10 crore to Rajasthan Royals) you can name several of them who went for big money at auction.
“So when you see those type of numbers you feel happy for them. It’s always a little backhanded compliment to our ability to bring those type of players and grow them in our setup,” Mysore said.
Having endured their sixth defeat from nine matches, KKR now must win all their remaining five matches to keep their playoff hopes alive.
With inputs from PTI
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