IPL 2022: Ahmedabad, Lucknow announce Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul as captains

The Ahmedabad and Lucknow team on Friday announced their three draft picks for IPL 2022. Hardik Pandya and K L Rahul will captain the teams respectively. 

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Ahemdabad, owned by CVC, picked Hardik, the captain, and Afghanistan star spinner Rashid Khan for Rs 15 crore each while shelling out Rs 7 crore for batter Shubman Gill, their director of cricket Vikram Solanki announced on Star Sports.

Before being released this year, Pandya had been an integral part of the Mumbai Indians since 2015. He played pivotal roles for the franchise in their 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 title-winning campaigns. Rashid Khan was Sunrisers Hyderabad’s mainstay since 2017 and Shubman Gill opened for Kolkata Knigh Riders since 2019. 

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The RPSG group owned Lucknow franchise signed Rahul for Rs 17 crore, Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for Rs 9.2 crore and uncapped leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi for Rs 4 crore.

KL Rahul, who is currently captaining India in the ODI series versus South Africa, has had a stellar record with the bat. He finished the 2021 season with 626 runs in 13 games at a whopping average of more than 60. Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi played key roles in Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings’ campaigns respectively. 

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Here are the records of the three players in IPL over the years

KL Rahul

Matches: 94, Runs: 3273, Strike-rate: 136.38

Marcus Stoinis

Matches: 56, Runs: 914, Strike-rate: 135.81, Wickets: 30, Economy: 9.5

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Ravi Bishnoi

Matches: 23, Wickets: 24, Economy: 6.97

Hardik Pandya

Matches: 92, Runs: 1476, Strike-rate: 153.91, Wickets: 42, Economy: 9.06

Rashid Khan

Matches: 76, Wickets: 93, Economy: 6.33

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Shubman Gill

Matches: 58, Runs: 1417, Strike-rate: 123

They will make the rest of their squad at the mega auction scheduled in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.