IPL 2022 | Would play for Kolkata Knight Riders forever if possible, says Shubman Gill

The IPL franchises have already announced their retention for the 15th edition of the tournament, which will feature a mega auction and two new participating teams. Lucknow and Ahmedabad are the two new entrants to the cash-rich league, and will feature from the upcoming season of the tournament. 

The addition of the new franchisees makes IPL a 10-team tournament, and the teams will be eyeing the mega auction to build a strong squad for the upcoming season in the lucrative league. KKR have retained Andre Russel, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and Venkatesh Iyer ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. Notably, Shubman Gill, who has been a consistent performer for the Kolkata-based franchise in the recent seasons, was released by the KKR management.

Meanwhile, Gill has stated that if given a chance, he would like to continue playing for the Kolkata-based franchise forever.

“The kind of bond I have with the KKR franchise is something really special to me. Once you’re associated with a franchise you would want to carry on and play with them forever… And if I would be able to play in purple and gold, I would play forever,” Gill said in a short-film titled ‘Love, Faith and Beyond’.

Gill was purchased by the Kolkata-based franchise for 1.8 crores in the 2018 IPL auction, and the right-hand batsman scored 203 runs from 13 matches at a strike rate of 146.0. Gill was later promoted to the opening slot, and scored 1417 runs from 58 matches for the franchise. 

Gill reckoned that he would like to cherish the time he had with the players in the KKR team.

“Not every year you can have all the best teammates or all the best players or all your best friends in one team. Instead of cribbing about the fact that we don’t have them we should cherish the time that we had with them,” Gill added.