Ahead of IPL 2022 auction, Ahmedabad, Lucknow officially name their draft picks

The two new teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Ahmedabad and Lucknow, have announced their draft picks ahead of the upcoming mega auction for the 2022 season.

Hardik Pandya (Rs 15 crore), Rashid Khan (Rs 15 crore) and Shubman Gill (Rs 8 crore) have been picked by Ahmedabad, while KL Rahul (Rs 17 crore), Marcus Stoinis (Rs 9.2 crore) and Ravi Bishnoi (Rs 4 crore) have been chosen by Lucknow.

Furthermore, Vikram Solanki has been named Ahmedabad's Director of Cricket with Hardik Pandya leading the franchise. Gary Kirsten will be the batting coach and mentor of the Ahmedabad franchise and Ashish Nehra has been appointed as the head coach.

Also Read | Punjab reports 7,792 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

KL Rahul will don the captaincy hat for the Lucknow franchise, with Andy Flower being named the coach. Former India batter Gautam Gambhir will be the mentor of the Lucknow.

Notably, Hardik Pandya was not retained by Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, KL Rahul decided to leave Punjab Kings as he wanted to go to auction. Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill respectively played for SunRisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2021 season.

Ravi Bishnoi and Marcus Stoinis were in Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals, respectively.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given formal approval to the IPL's two new teams - Sanjiv Goenka RPSG Group for the Lucknow franchise and CVC Capital for the Ahmedabad franchise. After a meeting of the IPL Governing Council, a formal clearance was issued.

The IPL auction will be held in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13, said Brijesh Patel.

Also Read | Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas welcome first baby through surrogacy, seek ‘privacy’

-PTC News