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Confirmed! New franchises Lucknow, Ahmedabad announce skippers for ITL 2022

KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya to lead Lucknow and Ahmedabad in the fifteenth edition of the legaue respectively

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KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya

KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya (Image source: BCCI/IPL)

Amidst all the excitement and frenzy over the two new teams in the Indian T20 League (ITL), i.e. Ahmedabad and Lucknow, both franchises have announced their captains for the upcoming season. Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul will captain Ahmedabad and Lucknow respectively.

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Both the teams confirmed the same on Friday while announcing their drafts ahead of the ITL 2022 mega auction. The Gujrat-based franchise have picked Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan for INR 15 crore each and spent INR 7 crore in order to acquire the services of Shubman Gill. On the other hand, the Uttar Pradesh-based franchise picked KL Rahul for INR 17 crore.

They decided to sign Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi as their second and third pick respectively and shelled out for INR 9.2 crore for the Australian all-rounder and INR 4 crore for the leggie. These two franchises, alongside the other eight, will now make the rest of their squad in the mega auction which is slated to take place in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.

However, as India is currently witnessing a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, the BCCI has organized a meeting with the team owners of the Indian T20 league. According to a report by The New Indian Express, this virtual meeting will be conducted to discuss potential backup venues for the upcoming edition of the league.

Although the board's first preference is to conduct the fifteenth edition of the league in India itself, the third wave might force them to resort to a plan B. The venue for the mega auction which is scheduled for Bengaluru on February 12 and 13, will also come up for discussion.

"Owners have been invited for the meeting and it will be held virtual," said a team official. It is to be noted that the 2020 season was scheduled in UAE due to the pandemic. As a matter of fact, the second half of IPL 2021 was also held in the same country as after the first half in India was abruptly stopped due to the second wave of COVID-19.

Cricket News India IPL 2023 KL Rahul Hardik Pandya