Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have decided not to retain their two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winner skipper Gautam Gambhir. The IPL 2018 retention saw a few bizarre decisions from the franchises as they chose not to retain some of their star players. Before the retentions, Gambhir revealed that he has not been contacted regarding the retention. There were also reports that Gambhir will be playing for Delhi Daredevils (DD) this season after KKR let go of him ahead of the IPL 2018 auction.
KKR retained two Windies players — Sunil Narine (Rs 8.5 crores), Andre Russell (Rs 7 crore). Other players who did not make it into retention list were Manish Pandey, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Umesh Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav. However, it is still unknown whether some of these players will be on KKR’s list when they enter the auction and practice their Right to Match (RTM) card.
KKR’s decision has not gone down well with Gautam Gambhir fans.
Here are some of the reactions:
KKR didn’t retain Gautam Gambhir.
BC Puri West Indies team ko hi retain kr lete, sirf Sunil Narine & Andre Russell ko hi kyu.??
Want Chris Lynn, Gautam Gambhir & Manish Pandey by RTM.#BringBackGautamGambhir.
— Humour Thoughts (@HumourThoughts) January 4, 2018
.@KKRiders don’t retain @GautamGambhir. @SunRisers don’t retain @SDhawan25. Maybe RTM or will these two return to @DelhiDaredevils in spectacular fashion? #IPLRetention #IPL2018
— Siddharth Vishy (@sid_vishy) January 4, 2018
@GautamGambhir97 @GautamGambhir Very Disappointment .. why @KKRiders release Gauti 🙁
— Moin (@M_Moin) January 4, 2018
Wohaaa… @KKRiders left the skipper Gautam Gambhir who guided team to win 2 IPL trophies..
Lagta h KKR management team ka “Nasha” nhi utra abhi tak new year party ka.. #IPLRetention #IPL
— Aman Bansal (@AmanBansal4u) January 4, 2018
This Is Sad…..This Is Really Sad……@GautamGambhir Was Not There In The Retained List Of @KKRiders …….
https://t.co/OuYNJMQbbk— Avinash Sahu (@avinash5784) January 4, 2018
No Gautam Gambhir 4 #KKR … Must have been a painful breakup #IPLRetention
— Bikash Upadhyaya (@bikash1632) January 4, 2018
Wow @KKRiders Wow
So You Parted the ways with the man You took you from Ground to Stars , KKR was no team in First 3 Seasons but than came the man Named @GautamGambhir who made this team one of the best in the League , His Captaincy and Vision can never be replaced#MissYouGauti— Rishikesh Sharma (@Tonu_LFC) January 4, 2018
Shocked to see @KKRiders not retaining the man who changed the whole team. KKR doing best what they do best First @SGanguly99 and now @GautamGambhir Thanks, @iamsrk, and @KKRiders #IPLRetention
— Kapil Garg (@gargkapil899) January 4, 2018
Ab aur Rona aa rha h
After DADA @GautamGambhir has been a blessing upon us
Ye kya kr diya
I know Delhi ki kismat acchi nhi rhi
But Gambhir Apne dusre ghar vapis aa Jana— Ritika Sahoo Mamuni (@RitikaSahoo) January 4, 2018
Gautam Gambhir not retained by KKR ! KKR has released one of the most successful captains similar to what they did with Sourav Ganguly .
Kolkata Knight Riders never treats legends with respect. #IPLRetention #IPL2018— vardaan kapoor (@kapoorvaru) January 4, 2018
Gautam Gambhir.#IPLRetention pic.twitter.com/7D2iE7Gu5A
— Cricket Sarcasms (@CricketSarcasms) January 4, 2018
He is not in the scheme of things for BCCI , how can we expect that after giving him the baton for 8 years as captain, KKR will continue to invest heavily on him when his cricketing career about to END , it’s sad but it’s true
— Chanky Jai Hind (@chanky_2009) January 4, 2018
I don’t know whether it is Kolkata knight riders or trinbago knight riders
— Vinod kumar (@VinodKu99979867) January 4, 2018
Gautam Gambhir right now#IPLRetention pic.twitter.com/57cRHa9Fki
— Hamid (@Engineer_hu_bc) January 4, 2018
What SRK did to Gautam Gambhir at #IPLRetention pic.twitter.com/ix8DTkJjS9
— Moody Motu (@MoodyMotu) January 4, 2018
With Ricky Ponting appointed as Delhi Daredevils coach and Gautam Gambhir getting released from KKR, Time is ripe for DD to make a mark in the IPL seen just get GG #IPLRetention
— Ujjawal Singh (@ujjawalsingh) January 4, 2018
#IPLRetention@GautamGambhir @iamsrk @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/31Xfhtljz0
— manish sharma (@jabalpurnow) January 4, 2018
Reporter: Sir, Gautam Gambhir ko kyu nahi retain nahi kiya?
SRK: Woh ajkal chal nahi rha.
Reporter: Aur sir, aapki movies?
SRK: BC#IPLRetention— Jet Lee(Vasooli Bhai) (@Vishj05) January 4, 2018
No brain’s used by the @KKRiders CEO @VenkyMysore by not retaining @GautamGambhir
— navjyot Singh (@paradoxends) January 4, 2018
@cricketaakash said Gautam Gambhir will captain @DelhiDaredevils well! He should be made captain!
— Team Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir97) January 4, 2018
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Gambhir led KKR to their first title win in 2012 followed by another title in 2014. He is the second-most successful captain in the history of the league after Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma who has won the league three times. KKR’s performance in the IPL 2017 was not bad either. They dominated in the league stages and were knocked out in the eliminator by Rising Pune Supergiant.
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Talking about his form, Gambhir has been in fine nick in the domestic circuit. He recently scored a century for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy 2017-18 final. However, Delhi could not finish the league at the top as Vidarbha made history by winning their maiden title.
