While the existing eight IPL teams have already revealed their list of retained players ahead of the mega auction, which is set to take place in the last week of December this year or the first week of January 2022, Ahmedabad and Lucknow have been given the right to pick three players each from the pool of non-retained players.
The deadline to finalize the picks is December 25, and sources close to ABP news have revealed that the players and the captains of the two new teams are almost selected.
Iyer, who left Delhi Capitals (DC) in search of captaincy after leading the franchise for two and a half seasons, is set to become the skipper of Ahmedabad franchise in IPL 2022. Hardik Pandya is the other Indian player picked by the outfit.
Either of Quinton de Kock or David Warner could be bought by the Ahmedabad team owners at the mega auction.
As far as the Lucknow franchise is concerned, KL Rahul, who parted ways with Punjab Kings (PBKS), would lead them. Rashid Khan and Ishan Kishan are the other two players who will accompany the 29-year-old opening batter.
Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower, who was Punjab’s assistant coach for the last two seasons, is also expected to move to the Sanjiv Goenka-owned franchise.
Apart from Flower, New Zealand veteran Daniel Vettori and former India pacer Ashish Nehra are also reported to be linked with the Lucknow team.
The RPSG Group won the bid to own the Lucknow franchise for a whopping Rs 7,090 crore in October this year.
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