The next edition of the Indian Premier League will be of ten teams in which new teams from Lucknow and Ahmedabad will be included. The BCCI has asked the two new IPL franchises to complete the signing of three players by January 22. The deadline has been given after the process of formally approving the ownership of CVC Capital for the Ahmedabad franchise.
The Ahmedabad franchise is all set to take on Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill ahead of the mega auction of IPL 2022. According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, Hardik will lead Ahmedabad in the next season of this cash-rich league. The BCCI has given a purse amount of Rs 90 crore which is the same for the old franchise but they got a chance to retain a maximum of five players.
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The report further suggested that Hardik and Rashid will earn INR 15 crores each while Shubman has been signed for INR 7 crores. Hardik was released from Mumbai Indians ahead of the auction as they picked Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav over him. While Rashid decided to part ways with Sunrisers Hyderabad who retained Kane Williamson, Umran Malik and Abdul Samad. Whereas after the tremendous season of IPL 2021, KKR decided to choose other players in place of Shubman.
Hardik represented the franchise in 92 matches and scored 1476 runs at an average of 27.33 and also took 42 wickets. He was primarily employed as a finisher, often batting down the order. He last played for India in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates where the team failed to progress beyond the group stage.
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After the marquee ICC tournament, Hardik made himself unavailable for selection as he is working to achieve his 100 per cent fitness.
The franchise has also finalized its coaching staff along with Ashish Nehra, Gary Kirsten and Vikram Solanki. Interestingly, all three have previously worked together for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
IPL chairman Brijesh Patel has already announced that the mega auction of IPL will be held on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.
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