New Delhi: Today's IPL 2022 match between Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans and KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants will be a historic occasion as the two new teams will tonight make their official debut in the Indian Premier League. The addition of these two teams made the IPL a 10-team affair.
CVC capitals purchased Gujarat Titans for a jaw-dropping Rs. 5625 crore, while Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG group bought Lucknow Super Giants for a whopping Rs. 7090 crore.
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Meanwhile, GT skipper Hardik Pandya delivered a powerful message for his fans ahead of Gujarat's debut match in IPL.
A video was posted by the official Twitter handle of Gujarat Titans in which Pandya said," Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, captain Hardik Pandya. The feel is new, but the field is also new. But listen, I am not going to tell you where I came from, you probably know that. I will tell you where I am taking you to. It's towards that peak called sporting success."
An emotional Hardik Pandya also said that he wanted to emulate his 'brother' MS Dhoni.
"That sweet lofty spot, where grit lives with the grind, labor leads to luck. It is a range that my brother (MS Dhoni) has scaled and I have made no attempts to hide that I want to emulate him. It's a place that my hero (Sachin Tendulkar) has owned and told me stories of how he got there," added Pandya.
"It is a journey which will pit me sometimes against my sibling, my soulmate and many of my closest friends. And like every flight, this too may have turbulence. But hey, look at me. If I have survived being in a national storm, a ban, a gruelling back injury and more, I know what it takes," said the Gujarat Titans captain.