Hardik Pandya will captain the Ahmedabad franchise and KL Rahul the Lucknow team, the two new Indian Premier League (IPL) teams confirmed on Friday while announcing their three draft picks ahead of the mega auction. (More Cricket News)

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.

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

“Super excited to start this new journey for Ahmedabad”, Hardik was quoted as saying in a video tweet posted by Star Sports. “I want to take this opportunity to thank the management and the owners for putting their faith in me as the captain of this team,” he added.?

“It’s a new era for us and I am excited for what lies ahead. What I can promise is this team will always fight and give their all. A big welcome to Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill, two players whom I know extremely well and will bring a lot to our table,” said Hardik before signing off.?

Announcing the three draft pics, Lucknow owner Sanjiv Goenka said, “We have finalised our three draft picks ahead of the auctions. First is KL Rahul, who will be the captain of the side. The second is Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and the third is young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.” However, both the new teams are yet to finalise on their team names.?