Tata IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya likely to captain the Ahmedabad franchise

Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Shubhman Gill are set to join the Ahmedabad franchise for IPL 2022. Ashish Nehra, Gary Kristen and Vikram Solanki to the coaching staff.

Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Shubhman Gill are set to join the Ahmedabad franchise for IPL 2022. The best allrounder of India, Hardik Pandya, is likely to captain the Ahmedabad side reported ESPNcricinfo. This would be a new experience for the all-rounder in the IPL, as he’ll be seen leading a team for the first time.

Ahmedabad and Lucknow are two new teams in the IPL. Last October, the Ahmedabad franchise was bought by CVC Capital Partners and was given the same purse of INR 90 crores as the other eight franchises to buy players. The two new teams can buy three overseas players with overseas slots limited to one, unlike the different eight sides, who can retain four players.

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IPL has set the price of INR 15 crore, INR 11 crore, and INR 7 crore for retaining three players. It has come into news that Ahmedabad will be paying INR 15 crores to both Hardik and Rashid, whereas INR 7 crore to Shubhman Gill.

It will be the first time Hardik, Rashid, and Shubham will be playing together. Hardik has been representing Mumbai Indians since he was an uncapped player. He was bought for INR 10 Lakh in 2015 for his first IPL and has grown exponentially since then. In 2018, Hardik was the second player Mumbai retained, paying Hardik a whopping INR 11 crore. Hardik has been a game-changer for Mumbai since the beginning. Hardik has not been a part of the Indian team since the T20 World Cup because of injury and could not perform well as he used to in the last two IPLs.

On the other hand, Rashid had been a significant asset for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sunrisers had to choose to retain either Kane Williamson or Rashid; Sunrisers went with the side captain, Kane Williamson, dropping Rashid off the team. Rashid has been one of the best bowlers in IPL with his wicket-taking record and low economy rate.
For Gill, it will be his second team in the IPL; Kolkata Knight Riders picked Gill in 2018 after his incredible performance in the U-19 World Cup. It was tough for Kolkata to retain Gill as they had many options to choose from.

Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra, 2011 World Cup-winning coach and South African Batsmen Gary Kristen and Former England Batsmen and Surrey’s head coach Vikram Solanki will be the coaching staff of the team. Vikram Solanki is named as the Team director. The trio had worked together in the past for Royal Challengers Bangalore and would be familiar with each other. The trio will try to help Ahmedabad have a brilliant start to its campaign.