The two-time IPL champions were one of only three franchises to release all their players along with the Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab.
Venky Mysore was appointed as the CEO of the franchise in 2010. KKR were the only side to be devoid of playoff cricket across the first three editions of the tournament.
The newly appointed CEO made the call to let go of major international players like Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly to go into the auction with a full purse.
Speaking on Brad Hogg’s YouTube channel, Mysore recalled the decision he made a decade ago.
Venky Mysore also spoke about the absence of Pakistani players in the competition.
The T20 World Cup semi-finalists have made serious strides in the shortest format of the game but are unable to ply their trade in the IPL.
Players like Misbah-ul-Haq, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar were once part of the IPL.
“We’ve been with Russell and Narine through thick and thin” - Venky Mysore
Unlike their 2011 retention call, KKR opted to retain the maximum available option of four players this time around. The two-time champions retained Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer ahead of the 2022 mega auction.
Mysore spoke about the connection the franchise has with the Caribbean duo of Russell and Narine.
Narine was roped in by KKR in 2012, and has arguably been one of the greatest auction picks in history.
Russell, on the other hand, found his groove with the franchise after a disappointing spell with Delhi.
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