Ahmedabad, 7/2: The name of the new franchise going to be associated with the upcoming season of Deion Premier League (IPL 2022) will be Ahmedabad Titans. This will be the 10th team of the league. Till last season 8 teams were playing in this prestigious T20 league but from 15th season there will be 10 teams. However, no official announcement has been made about the new team. The captaincy of the Ahmedabad franchise will be handled by Indian star all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
10 teams will enter the 15th season of IPL, the world’s richest T20 league. Two new teams will be added from this season, one of which is Lucknow and the other is Ahmedabad. A few days before the mega auction, the Lucknow team had announced its official name. The Lucknow franchise, owned by RP Sanjeev Goenka, will be named ‘Lucknow Super Giants’. According to InsideSport, the new team will release its official name ahead of the auction.
Earlier, the Ahmedabad franchise has selected 3 players. Now he has a purse of 52 crores left. The captaincy of the team will be handled by Hardik Pandya. He has been added to the team for Rs 15 crore. Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan has also been added to the team for Rs 15 crore. At the same time, India’s young cricketer Shubman Gill will be given Rs 8 crore. Talking about the coaching staff of the team, veteran pacer Ashish Nehra has been made the head coach while Gary Kirsten will be the mentor.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya will not take part in the Ranji Trophy starting on February 10. He is eyeing a return to the Indian team in limited overs cricket. The Baroda Cricket Association has announced a 20-man squad for the first phase of the tournament, in which Hardik’s name is not there. Kedar will take over Deodhar as the captain of Baroda while Vishnu Solanki will be the vice-captain.