IPL 2018: Gautam Gambhir unsure about his KKR future

What's the story?

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has revealed that he is open to playing for any other franchise in the 2018 IPL as he is looking for different challenges that will keep him motivated and hungry.

The southpaw also admitted that he doesn't know if his future lies with KKR and has not spoken to anyone in the team management about his future with the franchise.

“It is very surprising that I have not spoken to anyone (in KKR management). I don’t know about myself (future with KKR). We’ll probably sit and talk after the Ranji final. But yes I am (open to playing for any franchise). You have achieved so much for KKR. You have done whatever you could.

"If things do not work out in future, the good part is that you are leaving a franchise on a good note, when it has become a successful franchise. Not when you were struggling. As a professional, you want different challenges. There is nothing wrong in it. That’ll keep you motivated and hungry,” says Gambhir in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times.

In case you didn't know...

Gambhir moved to a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in the fourth edition of the IPL, built a strong core and helped them win two IPL titles. After playing for the Men in Purple for seven seasons, Gambhir has already expressed his desire to play for some other franchise in the future, especially, his home team Delhi Daredevils.

Details

As per the governing council's decision, a franchise can retain five players using one of two combinations - three pre-auction retentions and two RTMs, or two pre-auction retentions and three RTMs. Either way, a franchise can retain or use RTM for a maximum of three players in the auction. Moreover, if a franchise doesn't retain even a single player before the auction, they still cannot use more than three RTMs.

What's next?

The highly-anticipated 2018 IPL auction will take place on January 27 and 28 next year in Bengaluru. Ahead of the auction, franchises have been asked to submit the list of players they will retain, and the Governing Council will make a final list of players who will go into the auction pool.

January 4th has been announced as the deadline for all the eight franchises to submit their retention list, and the Governing Council will release the list of players who will go under the hammer on January 18, nine days before the auction.

Author's Take

Gambhir came into the KKR fray when the team were struggling and has achieved everything he could with the franchise. With just over ten days to go for the submission date, the team management is yet to get in touch with the captain and discuss the players he wants to be retained. So, if these are the signs of things to come, Gambhir might not play for the former champions in the next IPL.