Hardik Pandya has been named captain of the Ahmedabad franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega-sale. Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill are the team’s other two draft picks. Hardik, who was not detained by the Mumbai Indians earlier last year, has been one of the mainstays of the MI side since his debut. This is a huge opportunity and responsibility for Hardik, who is currently out of the Indian squad after a subpar performance in the ICC T20 World Cup last year.
Hardik and Rashid have been chosen for Rs 15 crore each while Shubman has been signed for Rs 8 crore.
Stars already in their bag! #TeamAhmedabad has gone all guns blazing for #VIVOIPL 2022.
Which choice of them made you go? Tell us pic.twitter.com/USDvtZKGnw
— StarSports (@StarSportsIndia) January 21, 2022
It will be interesting to see if Hardik returns to bowling for his new franchise, something he hasn’t done since he injured his back.
Rashid Khan is another big name chosen by the Ahmedabad franchise. The Afghan spinner has been the backbone of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling division for a number of years now and he is definitely one of the biggest draws in franchise T20 leagues around the world.
Shubman Gill is a talented Indian opener, who got a chance from Kolkata Knight Riders and the former U-19 World Cup winner repaid the confidence shown in him with some solid performances.
Gill was overlooked by KKR during retention as his performance was not up to par last season and the team instead decided to keep Venkatesh Iyer, whose introduction in the second half of IPL 2021 propelled KKR to the finals.
Here are the records of the three players in IPL over the years
Hardik Pandya
Matches: 92, Runs: 1476, Strike Rate: 153.91, Wickets: 42, Economy: 9.06
Rashid Khan
Matches: 76, Wickets: 93, Economy: 6.33
promoted
Shubman Gill
Matches: 58, Runs: 1417, Strike rate: 123
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