Rahul becomes the joint-highest-paid player in IPL

Hardik Pandya will captain the Ahmedabad franchise and KL Rahul will lead the Lucknow team, the two new IPL teams confirmed on Friday while announcing their three draft picks ahead of the mega auction.

The CVC-owned Ahmedabad have picked Hardik and Afghanistan star spinner Rashid Khan for Rs 15 crore each while shelling out Rs 7 crore for batter Shubman Gill, their director of cricket Vikram Solanki announced on Star Sports.

Former South Africa batter and India head coach Gary Kirsten, who will serve as mentor-cum-batting coach at Ahmedabad, said Pandya will be "motivated" to prove himself as captain. "He's a young, new captain and he'll be motivated to come in, make a play and show what he's capable of at this level as a leader," Kirsten told Star Sports.

"He's a great leader, a high performer, and he's really motivated. What I've heard is that he is keen to get in the mix. What I've heard, he's raring to go and get in the mix from a leadership perspective. That's very exciting for us to have a player with such a level of skill, motivated to do well."

Talking about Rashid and Gill, Kirsten said: "Rashid has proven his value all around the world. I haven't yet worked with him, but I've met him a few times. Watching him on the field, he is a competitive young man and wants to do well for the franchises he plays in.

"Gill is a fantastic player who, at the end of the day, in my view, should be playing for India. He's on the verge of that and plays with great flair and instinct for the game. He can be a match-winner on his own."

The RPSG group-owned Lucknow franchise signed Rahul for Rs 17 crore, Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for Rs 9.2 crore and uncapped leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi for Rs 4 crore.

"We are confident that these three picks will propel our team, lay the foundation of our team, for not only season 2022 but seasons beyond. There were multiple things [we were looking for]. We were looking not only in building a team for 1-2 seasons like we did with Pune, but to lay the foundation for a team that can compete for many many years. We were also looking at players who have more than one facet, not a singular-dimension player," Sanjiv Goenka, who heads the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG), told Star Sports.

"KL is not only an outstanding batter but also a great wicketkeeper. Marcus is a great finisher, a good bowler and a phenomenal fielder. Ravi brings a unique dimension to the spin department and is an exceptional fielder. We want players to be here for 3-4-5-6-7-8 years. KL is in the batting department, Marcus is an allrounder, Ravi is a bowler so we tried to cover all three departments."

He also confirmed that Rahul will lead Lucknow. "Yes KL will be the captain. I have been very impressed with, not only his batting and wicketkeeping, but also his leadership skills. He is evolving, growing, maturing as a leader. He is somebody I would've wanted to lead the team and I do believe that given the right atmosphere, environment, he will emerge as a remarkable leader."

Talking about all the three signings, Lucknow's team mentor Gautam Gambhir said: "Rahul is a work in progress, he keeps, he opens the batting. He consistently has been a phenomenal run-scorer. And what's better than someone who gives you three things?

"Stoinis, purely from a finisher's point of view, since we didn't know if Ben Stokes was going to be in the auction or not. And Stoinis can bat in the middle or finish the games too. And, Bishnoi is a complete wicket-taking option."

They will make the rest of their squad at the mega auction scheduled in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.

(With inputs from PTI)