The new Indian Premier League (IPL) Ahmedabad-based franchise has announced former Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder Hardik Pandya as their captain. Hardik has been roped in by Ahmedabad for a whopping Rs 15 crore.
Former Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) player Rashid Khan has been roped in for the same price as Hardik’s. The Afghan leg-spinner will get Rs 15 crore for his services after not getting retained by SRH.
Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opener and Under-19 World Cup 2018-winner Shubman Gill has been roped in for Rs 8 crore by the new franchise.
The hard-hitting all-rounder has made 92 IPL appearances. Known for his quickfire cameos, he has scored 1,476 runs from 85 innings at an average of 27.33 including four half-centuries. It will be interesting to see at which position he bats as skipper of Ahmedabad. With the ball, he has 42 wickets to his name at an average of 31.26. However, it is not a certainty that he will be fit to bowl for the new franchise in the upcoming season or not.
The young Afghan leggie has played for SRH since he made his IPL debut. From 76 appearances, he has bagged 93 wickets at an average of 20.52. He has also maintained an impressive economy rate of 6.33 in his IPL career.
Ahmedabad will go into the IPL 2022 mega auctions scheduled for February 12 and 13 with Rs 52 crore in their purse.
Earlier there were reports that Ahmedabad may acquire MI wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan as their third player. But, in the end, they picked Gill as their third retention.
