IPL Trophy, IPL 2023
IPL Trophy (Image Credit: Twitter)

The eight existing franchises announced their retention list for IPL 2022 on Tuesday. From that, the two new franchises – Lucknow and Ahmedabad – have now learned about the players they can choose before the IPL 2022 mega-auction.

Lucknow and Ahmedabad can sign up to three players – two Indian and one overseas –  before mega-auction from the pool of players, which includes the released ones as well.

The BCCI had set a price slab for the existing eight teams to retain their players. Similarly, the two new franchises have been given a budget of Rs 33 crore to spend from their 90 crore purse to sign their top three picks, as has been reported by Indian Express.

Importantly, the break-up for the three players would be Rs 15 crore, Rs 11 crore and Rs 7 crore for the first, second and third picks, respectively.

Sanjiv Goenka
Sanjiv Goenka, the chairman of RPSG Group, is the owner of the Lucknow franchise. Image-Twitter

“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.

KL Rahul, Rashid Khan, David Warner up for grabs ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction

The deadline for the new teams to sign three players is December 25, and then the mega auction is expected to happen in January 2022.

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Lucknow and Ahmedabad have plenty of big names to look into for their first three signings. Punjab captain KL Rahul has been reported to be in talks with Lucknow; he had demanded to be released by the franchise.

Superstar leg-spinner Rashid Khan, whose negotiations fell out with Sunrisers Hyderabad, is also available to be roped in for the two new teams. So if the dynamic SRH opening pair of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow.

KL Rahul
KL Rahul (Image: IPL/Twitter)

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.

Also Read: IPL 2022 Retention: Thank You For Everything – Yuzvendra Chahal Reacts After Being Released By RCB