The fifteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) will witness a dramatic overhaul of 10 teams, with two new teams from Lucknow and Ahmedabad set to join the cash-rich league.
Both new teams have to submit the names of three players picked ahead of the mega auction by January 22. And in a recent development, the Lucknow franchise have finalised their three players. Indian opening batsman KL Rahul, Australian pace bowling all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and uncapped Indian leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi are all set to join the Lucknow franchise.
According to the reports of espncricinfo, KL Rahul has been paid Rs 15 crore, Marcus Stoinis has been paid Rs 11 crore and Ravi Bishnoi has been paid Rs 4 crore, which means the Lucknow franchise will enter the IPL 2022 mega auction with a purse of Rs 60 crore.
It is also learnt that KL Rahul is likely to take charge as Lucknow captain. KL Rahul led Punjab Kings for the past two seasons but did not want to stay at the franchise and was subsequently released by the management. Ravi Bishnoi was also with Punjab Kings while Marcus Stoinis represented Delhi Capitals.
The other new IPL franchise, based in Ahmedabad have picked Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill. With both the new teams finalising their players, the cap set by the IPL, the focus shifts to the IPL 2022 mega auction, which is scheduled for February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.
