Gautam Gambhir wasn’t retained by KKR at IPL 2018 Auction. (Source: IPL) Gautam Gambhir wasn’t retained by KKR at IPL 2018 Auction. (Source: IPL)

The auction for the Indian Premier League’s 2018 edition concluded on Sunday and the fans were handed a major surprise when the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise didn’t use the Right to Match card for Gautam Gambhir. In a video posted on KKR’s official Twitter handle, CEO Venky Mysore revealed the reason for the same.“He was very much in our plans for the auctions via RTM, but he had a conversation with us well before. He felt that there might be a different challenge before (him), we don’t know what it was. And (he) requested if we would refrain from bidding for him or using Right To Match. And we said we will never come in the way of anyone’s progress or anyone’s aspirations. We’re sorry to see him go, seven great years,” said Mysore.

Gambhir has had a successful journey with KKR in the cash-rich league where he led them to the title twice during his stay. The left-handed batsman has now been bought by Delhi Daredevils. DD was the franchise from where Gambhir started off his IPL career. Knight Riders lifted the IPL trophy in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

KKR had earlier retained two overseas players Sunil Narine and Andre Russell while used RTM for Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa and Kuldeep Yadav. Apart from this, India U-19 players like Shubman Gill, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi have also fetched heavy amounts in this edition.

KKR squad: Squad: Andre Russell (Retained), Sunil Narine (Retained), Mitchell Starc (Rs 9.4 crore), Chris Lynn (Rs 9.6 crore), Dinesh Karthik (Rs 7.4 crore), Robin Uthappa (Rs 6.4 crore Retained via RTM), Piyush Chawla (Rs 4.2 crore Retained via RTM), Kuldeep Yadav (Rs 4.8 crore Retained via RTM), Shubman Gill (Rs 1.8 crore), Ishank Jaggi (Rs 20 lakh), Kamlesh Nagarkoti (Rs 3.2 crore), Nitish Rana (Rs 3.4 crore), Vinay Kumar (Rs 1 crore), Apoorv Wankhade (Rs 20 lakh), Rinku Singh (Rs 80 lakh), Shivam Mavi (Rs 3 crore), Cameron Delport (Rs 30 lakh), Mitchell Johnson (Rs 2 crore), Javon Searless (Rs 30 Lakh)

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Sports News, download Indian Express App.

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd