OFFICIAL: Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchise to be lead by KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya respectively

It is now official as the Indian T20 League has announced the names of the players that both the new franchises have drafted before the mega auction. It was rumoured for weeks as it has now been confirmed that KL Rahul will lead the Lucknow franchise while Hardik Pandya will do the same for the Ahmedabad franchise.

Along with KL Rahul, the Sanjeev Goenka group has also roped in Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for 9.2 crore and young Ravi Bishnoi for 4 crore. The Captain will be earning 17 crore from the franchise and this makes him the costliest player of Indian T20 League at the moment.

When it comes to Ahmedabad, Captain Hardik Pandya will be earning 15 crore from the franchise. The spin wizard, Rashid Khan has also joined this new franchise after leaving Hyderabad and will earn 15 crore. Their third choice is young Shubman Gill, who is seen as the future of Indian Cricket. Gill will be earning 8 crore from the franchise. 

With these choices, it is now official that the likes of David Warner, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Shami and other superstars will go to the auction table. The auction is scheduled to be organised on 12th and 13th of February at Bengaluru.