"I was very surprised with KKR" - Brad Hogg puzzled with the franchise's retention picks ahead of IPL 2022 auction

Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has expressed his surprise over his former franchise Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) retention picks. The 2021 IPL finalists chose to keep hold of Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine ahead of the mega auction.

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell was selected as their first pick, thereby fetching the highest amount. Hogg felt that KKR could have sent Russell back into the auction given his inconsistency despite being a match winner on his day.

He also noted that Varun Chakravarthy deserved more money than the eight crore he will receive after the franchise announced him as their second-choice retained player. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hogg said:

"I was very surprised with KKR. Giving Chakravarthy only 8 Cr, I thought he was more than that. Big big call to retain Iyer, he has not been with the team that long and has only played a handful of matches."

Hogg added:

"I think they could have put Russell back in the auction because he is such a big hit and miss. Yes, he will win you some games but the consistency does not warrant that price."

KKR have a total of 48 Cr as their purse amount for the mega auctions. They retained the maximum limit of four players and parted ways with the likes of Shubman Gill and captain Eoin Morgan.

They do have the chance to bring the duo back through the auction, but it is a difficult proposition given the absence of the right-to-match card.

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Good to see franchises investing in the youth: Hogg

Brad Hogg praised the retention picks taken by the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals. Both franchises included uncapped players in the mix, leaving out some of their star performers for the auction.

Hogg particularly praised the retention of Umran Malik, who took the second leg of the IPL by storm with his pace playing for SRH. He said:

"I'm impressed in Rajasthan Royals investing in Jaiswal, I think it is great to have an uncapped player as retention. With Sunrisers Hyderabad, they have Abdul Samad and Umran Malik, a very good decision to retain two uncapped players. Good to see franchises investing in the youth. Malik would have fetched a lot at the auction because of his extra pace."

The Royals and the Sunrisers have let go some of the best players in the format. The likes of Rashid Khan, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer will arguably be the biggest attractions for the two new franchises as well as the rest of the league at the auctions.