IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya To Be Captain Of Ahmedabad IPL Franchise - Report

Hardik Pandya's Gujarati identity would play a key role if he has to become the captain of the Ahmedabad IPL franchise.

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Indian Premier League (IPL) is going to be played with 10 franchisees in the 2022 season. Ahmedabad and Lucknow are the two new teams that would be introduced in the tournament. 

Ahmedabad IPL team has decided that Hardik Pandya will be the captain of their side for the IPL 2022, reported Cricbuzz. The report said that Hardik is the frontrunner for the post by the virtue of him being a Gujarati cricketer. 

Besides Hardik, the franchise has also roped in Afghanistan's great leg spinner - Rashid Khan for an identical sum of INR 15 crore. Rashid had reportedly denied joining Sunrisers Hyderabad as the second retention, thus, Ahmedabad has agreed to match the sum of money for the first retention. 

Shubhman Gill is the third player to have secured his berth in the Ahmedabad side. 

"Ahmedabad has decided on its players and accordingly informed the BCCI about their draft picks. Hardik, Rashid, and Shubman are the three choices," a senior IPL official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Hardik Pandya has been part of the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise since his IPL debut in 2015. He was released by MI ahead of the upcoming IPL 2022 mega auction.

The all-rounder has been battling his fitness issues since the 2019 World Cup, after which he had to undergo back surgery. He will be excited to be back in the shortest format of the game.