The
Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will see a massive overhaul as the cash-rich
T20 tournament has been extended to 10 teams from eight. Lucknow and Ahmedabad
are the new entrants in the discourse of IPL. The mega auction is scheduled for
February.

Also Read: IPL 2022 auction to be held in Bengaluru on February 12, 13

As
per the IPL auction rule, eight teams that have been part of the tournament
from the beginning,  are allowed to
retain a maximum of four players and the two new franchises from Lucknow and
Ahmedabad would have to choose three players each from the available players
not associated with any franchises as their picks ahead of the auction.

According
to PTI, Ahmedabad have signed Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill and Rashid Khan for
the upcoming season on Tuesday. The report also stated that Pandya has been appointed the captain of the
Ahmedabad franchise.

Also Read: IPL 2022: Vijay Dahiya appointed as assistant coach by Lucknow franchise

ESPNCricinfo
reported that Ahmedabad will pay Rs 15 crores to both Rashid and Hardik, while
the franchise signed former Kolkata Knight Riders batter Shubman Gill for Rs 7
crores.

The
franchise is also interested in Ishan Kishan, who will be up for grab in the
auction. For Kishan, who played for Mumbai Indians, there is likely to be a
bidding war between the franchises from Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Also Read: If not Virat Kohli, then who? Daniel Vettori weighs in on RCB captaincy

Last
year, Mumbai Indians released Hardik Pandya due to his questionable fitness
since he underwent back surgery. Pandya failed to impress with the bat and
there is doubt about his availability as a pacer.

Mumbai
Indians retained Rohit Sharma, Keiron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav and
Jasprit Bumrah.

Also Read: Hardik Pandya bids farewell to Mumbai Indians: ‘All good things should end’

Meanwhile,
England all-rounder Ben Stokes and Test captain Joe Root announced that they
would not enter the IPL 2022 auction. They would rather focus on preparing for
the first Test of their home series against New Zealand, playing county
cricket.

“There’s
a lot that we need to do for this (Test) team, which deserves all of my
energy,” Root said. “I will keep sacrificing as much as I can because
I care so much about Test cricket in our country and trying to get us to where
we want to be.”