The Ahmedabad franchise, one of the two new teams to enter the Indian Premier League from this year, is all set to announce Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill as their draft picks ahead of the mega auction for the IPL 2022, stated a report in ESPNcricinfo.
With the IPL governing council allowing the Ahmedabad and Lucknow franchises the option to sign upto three players before the much-awaited mega auction, the Ahmedabad-based franchise seems to have finalised their discussions with the trio of Hardik, Rashid and Gill.
As per the rules of the tournament, the new franchises signing players will have to let go of a minimum of INR 15 crores, 11 crores and 7 crores, respectively, for their three signings from their total purse of INR 90 crores ahead of the auction. But ESPNcricinfo reported, the Ahmedabad side has reached an agreement of paying 15 crores each to Hardik and Rashid as seasonal salary, while Gill will be handed over 7 crores.
This amounting to 37 crores, the Ahmedabad side are set to enter the mega auction with a purse of INR 53 crores to create the rest of their squad.
The report also said that premier allrounder Hardik could be appointed the team’s captain, partly because of his association with the state of Gujarat, where the franchise is expected to be based at the new Ahmedabad stadium.
Apart from his all-round capabilities, Hardik brings the wealth of experience of being part of a winning dressing room in the IPL. He featured for the five-time champions Mumbai Indians till the end of IPL 2021, before being released by the franchise. Hardik had an indifferent 2021 season, but that has hardly diminished his value in the league.
Rashid opted to part ways with Sunrisers Hyderabad with the end of the IPL 2021 after a fruitful four-year stint with the 2016 champions. His IPL debut dating back in 2017, Rashid played 76 matches for SRH with 93 wickets at an economy rate of only 6.33, which makes him a rare T20 and IPL spinner with the ability to chip away at wickets while also keeping a leash on scoring. A hot property, if Ahmedabad do get Rashid for 15 crores, it would be considered a bit of a steal.
But the name of Gill among Ahmedabad’s signings has emerged as a surprise, for reports and speculations were that they would rope in MI’s wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan. Gill had a reasonably good second half of IPL 2021 for Kolkata Knight Riders, but with an underdeveloped T20 game, he was seen below in the drafting procedure to Kishan among the young Indian talents.
It seems Ahmedabad are making a futuristic punt with the undoubtedly talented right-hand batter, who has played 10 Tests for India.
The CVC Capital-owned Ahmedabad franchise is also set to finalise their coaching staff for the upcoming ten-team IPL 2022. ESPNcricinfo reported that the Ahmedabad think-tank will have former South African batter Gary Kirsten as their head coach, ex Indian left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra as bowling coach and Vikram Solanki, the former England batter, as their team director.
If the arrangement pans out, it will be the second instance of all three Kirsten, Nehra and Solanki working together. The trio has previously collaborated for the immensely popular Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The Ahmedabad franchise, as well as their Lucknow brethren, will have to submit their final draft signings to the BCCI and IPL governing council by January 22. The mega auction for the tournament will be held on February 12 and 13.
