As was being speculated, the two new franchises based in Lucknow and Ahmedabad have named KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya as their respective captains for the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League.
The two Indian players were touted as the two major signings to be announced by the new Premier Leauge franchises and now there is an official confirmation of the same. While Rahul has been picked as captain after being drafted for a whopping sum of INR 17 crores, Hardik has been appointed skipper with a signing amount of 15 crores.
According to the pre-auction rules set by the BCCI and the tournament’s governing council, the two new franchises can buy up to three players maximum from their available purse, including a cap on overseas players to just one.
With this in mind, the Lucknow franchise has put a stamp of approval on Rahul as their first pick, followed by allrounder Marcus Stoinis and uncapped wristspinner Ravi Bishnoi.
The Australian, who parted ways with Delhi Capitals at the end of the 2021 campaign, will be playing for Lucknow at a seasonal salary of INR 9.2 crores.
Bishnoi, the former Punjab Kings bowler, has been bought at INR 4 crores, which is minimum franchises had to let go in case they retained or signed an uncapped Indian cricketer.
As far as Ahmedabad are concerned, apart from Hardik their captain, they’ve also signed ace Afghanistan wristspinner Rashid Khan and young Indian batter Shubman Gill.
The team owned by CVC Capital has confirmed these players in their squad at sums of INR 15 crores and 8 crores, respectively. Rashid was with Sunrisers Hyderabad till the end of the previous edition of the tournament, while Gill featured for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Having made their pre-auction purchases, the Lucknow franchise will now enter the bidding war with INR 59.88 crores, while Ahmedabad will be carrying a remaining purse of INR 52 crores to compile their entire squad.
The whole idea for the BCCI and IPL governing council in allowing pre-auction signings was to help create a level-playing field for the two new teams. The signings made by the new franchises are from a pool of players left after the existing eight sides had retained some of their cricketers.
The mega auction for the IPL 2022 will be held on February 12 & 13.
