The CVC Capital owned Ahmedabad franchise have put the Lucknow franchise behind to send ace leg-spinner Rashid Khan a contract for the upcoming IPL 2022, Sportskeeda confirmed. Rashid, who was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2021, was released after both parties failed to reach equal terms over fees.
Meanwhile, the two newly-added teams have been trying to rope in the Afghanistan spinner for quite some time now. As per Sportskeeda, Ahmedabad closed in on signing Rashid Khan soon after the BCCI granted the Letter of Intent (LoI) to the CVIC-owned franchise.
While it was earlier reported that former Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer might lead Ahmedabad, it has now emerged that all-rounder Hardik Pandya might be roped in as the captain. Hardik, who was unearthed by Mumbai Indians, didn’t retain him ahead of IPL 2022 auction. Ahmedabad are also aiming to rope in another former Mumbai cricketer Ishan Kishan.
Though the coaching staff hasn’t been fixed yet, it is learnt that the CVC group has already reached out to Ashish Nehra, Gary Kirsten and Vikram Solanki for the roles of head coach, mentor, and director of cricket cum batting coach respectively.
KL Rahul likely to lead Lucknow franchise in IPL 2022
Meanwhile, former Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul is likely to be appointed as the captain of Lucknow. The management plans to build the squad around Rahul and are eyeing Marcus Stoinis and Kagiso Rabada after failing to rope in Rashid Khan.
The newly-added franchises need to announce their pre-draft signings within January 22. The mega auction is scheduled to take place in Bengaluru on February 12-13; however, it is likely to be postponed considering a spike in COVID-19 cases in India.
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