Retentions: All you need to know about the Kolkata franchise

Well, the retention of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell was confirmed ever since the board announced the upcoming mega auction. The other two players were thought to be Shubman Gill and Varun Chakravarthy but Venkatesh Iyer changed the scenario by playing some brilliant cricket in the last phase of the Indian T20 League last season.

It is because of his superb form with the bat and with the bowl, the Kolkata franchise had to let Shubman Gill go. For most part of the last three seasons, it was confirmed that Gill is the future of the Kolkata franchise and he will soon become the captain of the side. Fate had other things planned for him though. Things could have been different. Some of the fans think that retaining Sunil Narine is just a waste of space and Shubman should have been there.

This definitely was a very big decision from the franchise. There’s of course no news that Shubman wanted more money but that can very well be the case as the youngster has proved his worth. Along with Shubman, the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna haven't been retained.

Lockie has been a proven customer. Whenever he took the field, he gave his best and eventually won a few games for the franchise. Same can be said about Tripathi, whose brilliant innings helped Kolkata reach the finals of Indian T20 League in 2021.

Exciting times ahead for the franchise that builds a very low-key squad every time but impresses everyone. They also need a new captain. It won’t be surprising if they go after Shreyas Iyer, Aaron Finch or even Eoin Morgan and Shubman Gill. Specially Morgan, who inspired Kolkata to reach the finals in the last edition and ,more because Coach Brendon McCullam absolutely loves the Englishman.