Shubman Gill is set to join Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan at Ahmedabad

It was reported a week back that Hardik Pandya is all set to Captain the new Ahmedabad franchise and the Afghani spinner Rashid Khan is also set to join the team. The left-handed batsman and wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan was also on the verge of joining the franchise but couldn’t agree on certain terms. Thus, the franchise decided to go for young Indian opener Shubman Gill as their third-choice player.

This is massive in the context that Shubman is very much the future of Indian cricket. He was thought to be retained by the Kolkata franchise and also was expected to be handed over the captaincy baton but tables turned and he will now play for the Ahmedabad franchise. Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan will be taking 15 crore each from the franchise while Gill will be taking 7 crores.

“Ahmedabad has decided on its players and accordingly informed the BCCI about their draft picks. Hardik, Rashid and Shubman are the three choices”, said a senior Indian T20 League official. He added, “They wanted Ishan Kishan badly but it is understood that Ishan is more interested in going back to the auction and there is a high chance that MI might buy him at a premium price”.

The new franchise has also roped in Ashish Nehra as their head coach and Gary Kirsten as the mentor of the team. Vikram Solanki will be serving the team as the Director of Cricket.