"He didn't take a single paisa home in Lucknow's first auction" - Aakash Chopra expects Gautam Gambhir to use KKR's entire purse in IPL 2024 auction

Aakash Chopra reckons Gautam Gambhir will make the most of the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) hefty remaining purse to assemble a formidable squad after the IPL 2024 auction.

The Kolkata-based franchise has ₹32.70 crore left in its purse after releasing a plethora of players ahead of the auction. They can acquire a maximum of 12 players, including four from overseas, at the auction in Dubai on December 19.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Gambhir would like to use all the resources at his disposal to script a turnaround for the Kolkata Knight Riders. He elaborated (0:01):

"Gautam was in Lucknow and has reached Kolkata, but he was in Kolkata earlier as well. In fact, he was the captain when Kolkata won the IPL trophy twice. They finished at No. 7 last time, couldn't qualify. Shreyas Iyer wasn't available. The captain is available this time and the mentor has also changed."

The former India opener added (1:15):

"The winds of change have blown. They have a lot of money and Gautam Gambhir is never stingy. He says he will spend even the last rupee. In fact, I remember, he didn't take a single paisa home in Lucknow's first auction. So you can expect the same here as well."

Gambhir led KKR to IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. He then moved to the Delhi Capitals before joining the Lucknow Super Giants as a mentor, spending the entire available purse of ₹90 crore to assemble a 21-member squad at the IPL 2022 auction.

---

"They have released more people than the fingers in my hands" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's strategy ahead of the auction

Shardul Thakur was one of the big-ticket players released by KKR. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Kolkata Knight Riders have done wholesale releases to ensure that they have a huge sum heading into the auction. He said (1:45):

"However, to make this purse as 32.70 crores, they needed to release players. They have released more people than the fingers in my hands. They have released an entire team. In fact, they have 12 slots to fill."

The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that Shardul Thakur and Lockie Ferguson's releases will help the two-time champions' cause at the auction. He observed:

"The big releases that have freed up the money are Lockie Ferguson (10 crores) and Shardul Thakur (10.75) crores. That makes it nearly 21 crore rupees. Then they had bought Umesh Yadav for two crores and Tim Southee for 1.5 crores. Shakib Al Hasan was also for 1.5 crores."

Chopra reckons KKR are looking for a slight revamp, considering they have the most vacant slots among all franchises. He also pointed out that they have four vacant overseas positions, having retained only Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Jason Roy, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.