Hardik Pandya's speech to fans after being selected captain of Ahmedabad IPL team

On Saturday, Hardik Pandya, who will captain the Ahmedabad franchise in the IPL 2022, posted a special video greeting for his followers on his Twitter account.

"Kem cho Ahmedabad," Pandya captioned the video. He said that he was "super excited to start this new journey with the Ahmedabad IPL team. "Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank the owners, the management for putting their faith in me as the captain of this team. It's a new era for us and I am excited for what lies ahead," he was seen as saying in the video message.

Pandya stated that the Ahmedabad squad will always fight and offer their best effort. Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill were also welcomed into the team. Here's a link to his message:

The new Ahmedabad franchise will compete in the IPL in 2022. The franchise, which has yet to be named, has also revealed that Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill have been selected for the IPL 2022 season ahead of the blockbuster auction on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.

Pandya has departed the Mumbai Indians, the five-time IPL champions, to captain the newly established Ahmedabad franchise in the upcoming IPL season.

Teams from Ahmedabad and Lucknow select players.

The two new IPL franchises were awarded to the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group and equity investment firm CVC Capital Partners in October of last year.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement that while Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG Ventures submitted the highest bid of Rs 7,090 crore for Lucknow, Irelia Company Pte Ltd (CVC Capital Partners) bid Rs 5,625 crore for a franchise located in Ahmedabad.

Prior to the auction, both sides have released the identities of three players they have drafted.

Vikram Solanki, the Director of Cricket for the CVC-owned Ahmedabad franchise, stated that Hardik Pandya and Afghanistan star spinner Rashid Khan have been selected for Rs 15 crore each, while Shubman Gill has been selected for Rs 7 crore.

KL Rahul was signed for Rs 17 crore by the RPSG group, Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis was signed for Rs 9.2 crore by the RPSG group, and uncapped leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi was signed for Rs 4 crore by the RPSG group.