The new IPL franchise from Ahmedabad on Friday (January 21) announced their picks for the 2022 season of the league ahead of the mega auction.

Notably, the 2022 edition of IPL will be a 10-team affair with the addition of Ahmadabad and Lucknow franchises. While the mega auction is set to be held next month, the two news teams were allowed to pick three players (up to two Indians and one overseas) among the pool of cricketers up for grabs.

Following the criteria, the Ahmedabad-based franchise signed the trio of Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill, as announced on Star Sports.

Although IPL Governing Council has set INR 15 crore, INR 11 crore and INR 7 crore for teams to retain three players, the CVC Capital-owned franchise bought Hardik and Rashid for INR 15 crore each. Gill, on the other hand, has been roped in for INR 8 crore.

Notably, Hardik Pandya, who was part of the successful Mumbai Indians set-up from 2015 to 2021, will captain the Ahmedabad team in IPL 2022.

Spending a total of INR 38 crore on the aforementioned players has left the Ahmedabad franchise with INR 52 crore purse for the IPL 2022 mega auction.