Sources have reported that the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction will be held in Bengaluru between February 11-13. The IPL 2022 is the 15th rendition of the cash-rich league with the mega auction being set to take welcome the addition of two new teams, namely Lucknow and Ahmedabad, making the IPL a 10-team tournament.
“The auction will be in Bengaluru, the exact date is not finalised. But it would be held between February 11-13,” one source said.
Lucknow was acquired by the RPSG group following a whopping Rs 7,090 crore bid while CVC Capital acquired Ahmedabad for Rs 5,625 crore. Previously, the eight Indian Premier League franchises revealed the list of retained players ahead of the mega auction with a maximum number of four players comprising no more than three Indian players and two overseas players. The two new franchises, however, are given a budget of Rs 33 crore. They will have to pick three players before the auction comprising no more than two Indian players and one overseas player.
The two to be debutant franchises have also reportedly had their deadline for naming the three draft-in players extended until January 31.
Hardik Pandya to captain Ahmedabad franchise In IPL 2022
Star Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is rumoured to captain the Ahmedabad franchise for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, with a source telling ANI that “Yes, Hardik Pandya is being looked at as the skipper for Ahmedabad. The final decision is expected to come out soon”.
Former Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder Hardik Pandya was one of the franchise's key players during his stay there. He, however, was not retained by the 5-time IPL Champions for the 2022 edition of IPL. It, instead, retained MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Gless Maxwell among others.
"Hardik Pandya will be the captain of the brand new Ahmedabad franchise (not Shreyas). They're getting Rashid Khan on board too," K Shriniwas Rao claimed on Twitter.
Despite being a potential addition to the Ahmedabad franchise, the flamboyant native of Gujarat Pandya has been struggling with form and a prolonged injury concern. The 28-year-old has also been far from being in his best shape as he played as a liability for the whole of the last season, scoring at an average of only 14.11 in 11 innings with no single bowling.
Some sources have also reported that the Ahmedabad franchise was looking to hire former Sunrisers Hyderabad spinner Rashid Khan as well as former Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan. Some other sources even reported that the franchise had struck deals with the Afghan leg-spinner and the southpaw Indian wicketkeeper-batter.
"Ishan Kishan also likely to sign up with Ahmedabad. Talks on," Rao claimed in another tweet.
The reports, however, contradict other reports, including one by ABP News Sports editor G. S. Vivek, where it is claimed that the Lucknow-based franchise was, instead, lining-up both Kishan and Rashid as the two draft-in players in their squad, captained by KL Rahul.
