Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill join Ahmedabad IPL team ahead of mega auction

The Ahmedabad Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise revealed their final three picks from the players draft ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction on Friday (January 21). The Ahmedabad IPL franchise has roped in star Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, ace spinner Rashid Khan and young India batter Shubman Gill ahead of the auction.

The two new teams - Lucknow and Ahmedabad had been given the right to pick a maximum of three players each ahead of the mega auction after the existing eight teams revealed the list of the players retained by them. While Ahmedabad have picked Hardik, Rashid and Shubman, the Lucknow team has picked KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi.

The Ahmedabad franchise has picked Hardik and Rashid as their top players at the price of Rs 15 crore (INR 150 million) each. Shubman will be earning a staggering amount of Rs 8 crore (INR 80 million) per season with the team. While Hardik was part of the Mumbai Indians squad last season, Rashid and Shubman represented Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively.

Hardik had made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians in 2015 and played an instrumental role in their success over the years before his seven-year-long stint with the franchise ended this year. Hardik has been one of the best all-rounders in the league over the years with 1476 runs and 42 wickets in 92 IPL matches.

Rashid, on the other hand, made his IPL debut in 2017, had played only for Sunrisers Hyderabad till now and will be part of a new team from the upcoming season. Many had been left surprised when Rashid was not retained by the Sunrisers before it was revealed he wanted to be retained as the first-choice player for an amount of Rs 16 crore (INR 160 million).

However, SRH wanted their skipper Kane Williamson to be the first-choice retention. They went on to keep Williamson and released Rashid ahead of the mega auction. Rashid has been one of the best bowlers in the IPL since his debut in 2017 and has an impressive 93 wickets to his name in 76 IPL matches.

Also Read: Lucknow franchise rope in KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction

Gill too has played only for Kolkata Knight Riders so far in the IPL and will be playing for a new team first time this year. He was picked by KKR for a sum of Rs 1.8 crore (INR 18 million) ahead of IPL 2018 and has since made a name for himself with his consistent performance.

He will be now earning more than four times what he was at KKR with his Rs 8 crore (INR 80 million) contract with the Ahmedabad team. Gill has 1417 runs in 58 IPL matches. Former India head coach Gary Kirsten and former India pacer Ashish Nehra will be part of the team's backroom staff.