IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya to lead Ahmedabad? – Former Mumbai Indians and India all-rounder has been linked to a move to Ahmedabad before the IPL 2022 Auction. The CVC Capital-backed IPL franchise which got the letter of intent from BCCI on Monday is all set to pick Hardik Pandya as their captain. Besides Hardik, the new team also has almost finalized a deal with Rashid Khan: Follow IPL 2022 Mega Auction Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Other than Hardik & Rashid Khan, the Ahmedabad franchise officials are also in talks with few other players. The newly formed franchsie will either pick Ishan Kishan or Krunal Pandya as their 3rd pick before the IPL Auctions.
3 Likely picks by Ahmedabad franchsie
- Hardik Pandya (Captain)
- Rashid Khan
- Krunal Pandya or Ishan Kishan
Another good news coming in for CVC backed franchsie is that after almost 2 months of delay, BCCI on Monday has handed over the Letter of Intent to the franchise.
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IPL 2022: Ahmedabad franchise in talks with Hardik Pandya to lead the team, Rashid Khan, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan also on radar
Hardik Pandya to lead Ahmedabad? The India all-rounder who is recovering from a back injury is likely to lead the Ahmedabad franchise in their debut season in IPL.
Rashid Khan, the best T20 spinner currently, is the second on the list to be picked. The Afghan spin wizard left Sunrisers Hyderabad after a failed salary negotiation and is all set to move to a new team.
Spin all-rounder Krunal Pandya has also been linked with a move to the franchise & it will be either him or Ishan Kishan who will be signed as 3rd pick for the team before IPL Auctions.
Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya played for Mumbai Indians since 2015 before parting ways. His poor fitness and off form forced MI to release him ahead of the auction.
Krunal Pandya made his IPL debut a year later and was part of the title-winning team.
As CVC Capital is all set to sign final documents with BCCI for the Ahmedabad franchise, it has already started preparing for the debut season. Apart from finalising hirings for its corporate office in India, it has approached Gary Kirsten to be the team’s mentor while zeroing in on Ashish Nehra to be the head coach.
The other newly announced IPL franchise Lucknow has formally announced the head coach, batting coach and mentor besides the title sponsor.
IPL 2022: Ahmedabad franchise in talks with Hardik Pandya for leading the team, Rashid Khan & Krunal Pandya also on team’s list
Meanwhile, the RPSG-backed Lucknow franchise is preparing for its return to IPL in full swing. They have announced Gautam Gambhir as their mentor while roping in former Punjab Kings batting coach Andy Flower as the head coach. Vijay Dahiya has been appointed as the assistant coach.
Apart from that, they have signed a deal with fantasy gaming platform MyCircle11 as the title sponsor for the next three years. Lucknow franchise has also launched a unique name hunt for the franchise. The fans will now be suggesting the team’s name.
The franchises will be getting time till January 31 to finalise their draft pick. BCCI earlier set December 25 deadline for the two new franchises to sign three new players. However, the pending issue with CVC Capital’s Ahmedabad franchise deal meant the deadline got extended. The BCCI is yet to officially announce the date. However, InsideSport has learnt that IPL Governing Council has approved January 31 as the deadline.
IPL 2022: Ahmedabad franchise in talks with Hardik Pandya for leading the team, Rashid Khan & Krunal Pandya also on team’s list
