”No Hard Feeling There at All”: Chris Lynn after Releasing by Kolkata Knight Riders

Flamboyant Australia opener Chris Lynn has no hard feelings for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) which has released him for the upcoming edition of the tournament. Lynn has been a part of the KKR franchise for the last couple of years and played a crucial role as well.

“I have got a really good relationship with the KKR owners, support staff, head coach. There are no hard feeling there at all. More important is keeping those relationships nice and strong,” Chris Lynn said after scoring the highest-ever individual score in the ongoing Abu Dhabi T10 League for Maratha Arabians on Monday night.

Chris Lynn blasted 91 off only 30 balls against Team Abu Dhabi at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. His record innings included nine fours and seven sixes and helped his side put up 138/2 in their allotted 10 overs. Arabians won the match convincingly by 24 runs as Team Abu Dhabi managed to put up 114/3 in their allotted 10 overs.

Lynn was among the 13 players who were released by KKR ahead of the auction on December 19 in Kolkata. The opener, however, shared that there are players twice as good as him who were also released by IPL franchises. Hence, he is not upset with KKR who he thinks are desperate to win their third title.

“There are players twice as good as me that have been released from franchises so KKR want to win the tournament and that’s the priority for (head coach) Brendon McCullum,” he added. “The auctions coming up, so if I happen to score a few more runs and be fresh in the mind of some coaches, that’s a positive.”

He even commented on not getting the hundred despite coming so close.

“When you get closer to a hundred, you want to get there. But at the end of the day, the guy at the other end was hitting boundaries as well. So to get to 139 on that wicket was a really good job. Would have been nice to get first hundred of T10 but there are plenty of games left so will hopefully get another opportunity to do that. I got a slow start so happy,” Chris Lynn concluded.

The other players who were released by KKR are Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Anrich Nortje, Piyush Chawla, Joe Denly, Yarra Prithviraj, Nikhil Naik, KC Cariappa, Matthew Kelly, Shrikant Mundhe and Carlos Brathwaite.

Players Retained by KKR are Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Warrier, Harry Gurney, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Siddhesh Lad.

They have Rs 35.65 crore remaining in their purse for the auction.