Picture Credit: Twitter
While IPL Governing Council revealed the start and final dates along with specific details related to IPL 2022 on Thursday after the IPL GC meeting, franchises have kicked off their preparation for the high-intense month-long tournament. In a viral pic, skipper of Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya, can be seen preparing for the 15th season along with his teammate. In the pic, Pandya was clicked with middle-order batter Abhinav Manohar.
Notably, IPL Governing Council on Thursday revealed that the tournament will kick start on March 26 and will conclude on May 29. The Governing Council further notified that the franchises had been placed in two virtual groups, based on the number of times the team was crowned the IPL Champion, followed by the number of times the teams reached the final of the tournament. Titans have been placed in Group B along with CSK, SRH, Punjab Kings and RCB.
Earlier, before entering the auction with a purse of Rs. 52 crore, the franchise had drafted three players in the form of Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Shubman Gill. Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan were picked for Rs. 15 crores each, while Shubman Gill was drafted for Rs. 8 crores. The Gujarat franchise bought uncapped Indian player Abhinav Manohar Sadarangani for INR 2.6 crores on Day 1 of the IPL 2022 mega auction in Bengaluru.
The Karnataka batter received a huge rise from his base price of INR 20 lakhs. He had multiple franchises going after him, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) started the bidding war, due to which it took a short while for the price to reach Rs. 1 Crore. Eventually, Titans secured the services of middle-order batter. The youngster had scored 162 runs in four innings at an average of 54 and a strike rate of 150 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.