IPL 2022 is set to witness the introduction of two new teams, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, who will now look to sign three players before the auction. The much-awaited list of retained players was unveiled on November 30 (Tuesday) ahead of the mega auction of the IPL 2022. The existing eight teams had to make some tough decisions and leave out some of their key players to abide by the rules in place.
All the released players from the existing eight teams now have a chance to play for Lucknow and Ahmedabad in the IPL 2022. However, the two franchises won’t be able to pick more than three players before IPL 2022 mega auctions. They can only sign a maximum of two Indian players and one foreign player.
IPL 2022 Will Witness Lucknow And Ahmedabad To Sign 3 Players Before Auctions
The BCCI had set a price slab for the existing eight teams to retain their players. In a similar way, the two new teams featuring in IPL 2022 will have only Rs 33 crore to spend from their 90 crore purse to sign three players. The break up for the same is – Rs 15 crore, Rs 11 crore, and Rs 7 crore for the first, second, and third player respectively.
“If a player is negotiating with a new franchise, he can do it according to the purse allocation. If someone is in line to become the captain of a new team, then obviously he will be joining for Rs 15 crore,” said a CEO of one of the franchises.
Ahmedabad would be really interested in gaining the services of Hardik and Krunal Pandya, who Mumbai Indians have not retained, so is Ishan Kishan. Suresh Raina, another IPL stalwart, has been released from his franchise, Chennai Super Kings. Shreyas Iyer, who led Delhi Capitals to the 2020 IPL final, has also parted ways with the franchise, who decided to continue with Rishabh Pant as the captain.
KL Rahul To Be Assigned Skipper For Lucknow In IPL 2022: Reports
Reports have already suggested that KL Rahul will be playing for Lucknow next season, with the negotiations starting long back. However, Punjab Kings head coach Anil Kumble confirmed that the opening batter decided to go into the auction and hence the franchise had to release him. Something similar might happen with Rashid Khan, who opted to leave Sunrisers Hyderabad and could end up playing for one of the two new teams.
The deadline for the new teams to sign three players is December 25, and then the mega auction is expected to happen. The date for the mega auction isn’t officially announced yet, but it could happen in January 2022.
Many of the big-ticket players, including MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Glenn Maxwell, were retained. But the list of players released and going back into the auction pool is a long one.
Likes of Rashid Khan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Deepak Chahar were released by their respective franchises.