IPL 2022: Shubman Gill to join Ahmedabad franchise - Reports

Once touted as Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) biggest prospect, Shubman Gill is all set to be signed by the new Ahmedabad franchise for IPL 2022. According to a report on ESPNcricinfo, he will join all-rounder Hardik Pandya and Afghan spin sensation Rashid Khan to form the franchise's core ahead of the mega auction.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set a salary classification of ₹15 crore, ₹11 crore and ₹7 crore for franchises retaining three players. However, the report claims, the CVC Capital-owned team will give Pandya and Rashid contracts of ₹15 crore each, while Gill will be paid ₹7 crore.

Gill's addition to the roster is the latest development as multiple reports have already confirmed Pandya and Rashid's links with the team. Pandya is likely to be named the franchise's captain. Meanwhile, as reported by Sportskeeda, Ahmedabad pipped fellow new IPL franchise, Lucknow, to send a contract to Rashid.

Gill was always a prodigy in domestic cricket and, like many others, came into the IPL limelight after the 2018 Under-19 World Cup.

KKR signed him for ₹1.8 crore in that year's auction and the talks of him being the team's future captain started doing rounds. He amassed a decent 203 runs in his debut year with the franchise. But while his aggregate improved over the next three years, his strike rate became a major concern.

He improved on that in the second half of IPL 2021, but was overshadowed by the precipitous rise of Venkatesh Iyer. KKR's decision to retain a core of T20 stars - Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy - meant that they only had space for one future investment. They chose Iyer, which led to them releasing Gill for auction.

Shubman Gill's batting stats

The 22-year-old right-handed batter has already featured in 10 Tests and three ODIs for India, scoring 558 and 49 runs respectively. He's likely to be a mainstay in the national team, at least in the red-ball format for the coming years.

Gill has also represented KKR in 58 IPL matches, scoring over 1400 runs at an average of 31.49 and a strike rate of 123.