IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill to play for Ahmedabad

Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan for INR 15 cr while Shubman Gill signed for Rs 7 crores

Ahmedabad ropes in Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill (©BCCI)

The 15th edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) is going to witness a complete transformation after the addition of two new franchises, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, making it a 10-team affair.

The two new franchises, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, as per the rules, can retain a maximum of three players ahead of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction.

Meanwhile, a major update regarding the same has come from Ahmedabad's camp. As per various reports, they have finalised their picks ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.

As per reports of ESPNCricinfo, the Ahmedabad IPL team is all set to pick Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill as their draft picks ahead of the mega auction.

Hardik Pandya was released by Mumbai Indians (MI) as they retained Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. Rashid decided to part ways with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) who retained Kane Williamson, Umran Malik and Abdul Samad. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), on the other hand, released Shubman Gill.

According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, Ahmedabad will pay Rs 15 crores to both Rashid and Hardik, while Gill has been signed for Rs 7 crores. The same report also states that Hardik Pandya is expected to lead the Ahmedabad franchise which was bought by CVC Capital last year for a bid of Rs 5625 crores.

Read More: IPL 2022: Lucknow ropes in KL Rahul as captain; Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi picked as well

Hardik represented MI in 92 matches and scored 1476 runs at an average of 27.33, and took 42 wickets with the ball as well.

Talking about Rashid Khan, he made his tournament debut in 2017 for SRH and since then he played 76 IPL matches for them, taking 93 wickets at an economy rate of 6.33. He is currently one of the best leg-spinners in the tournament, having won eight Player of the Match awards in the five seasons he played for SRH.

Shubman Gill, who made his tournament debut in 2018 for KKR has played 58 matches for the franchise so far, aggregating 1417 runs at an average of 31.48.

Meanwhile, former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra is likely to be the franchise's head coach while Vikram Solanki is expected to be appointed as the team director. Meanwhile, India's 2011 World Cup winning coach Gary Kirsten will be the team's mentor.

The 10-team IPL 2022 is expected to be played between April-June, 2022. The mega-auction for the tournament is expected to take place on February 12-13, 2022 in Bengaluru.

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