IPL 2022: Ahmedabad franchise officially name the team as Gujarat Titans

The wait is over as the Ahmedabad-based franchise has revealed their name ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction. The team will be called Gujarat Titans and the same was confirmed on Wednesday (February 9). As per some earlier reports, the side was given the name Ahmedabad Titans. However, all the rumours were laid to rest as a verified Twitter account named “Gujarat Titans” has been launched.

“Official account of Gujarat Titans, the newest team of the Indian Premier League,” read the bio of the page. For the unversed, IPL 2022 will be a 10-team affair with the introduction of two new franchises- Lucknow and Ahmedabad. Lucknow have already given the name to their new team as Lucknow Super Giants. Hence, the wait was for the announcement of Ahmedabad’s team name.

Unlike the Lucknow team, the Ahmedabad franchise has gone with the state’s name instead of the city. Notably, it won’t be the first time that a team with Gujarat in the title will feature in IPL. During the 2016 and 2017 season, Suresh Raina led a now-defunct team Gujarat Lions.

Hardik Pandya-led team to be called Gujarat Titans

Meanwhile, the Titans will be led by all-rounder Hardik Pandya in IPL 2022. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan and batter Shubman Gill are the two players picked by the franchise ahead of the bidding event. For the unversed, the eight existing sides were allowed to pick a maximum of four players ahead of the mega auction. The two new franchises then picked three players apiece from the list of non-retained players.

All teams were allotted a purse of INR 90 crore. As Ahmedabad retained three capped players, they have been left with a purse of INR 52 crore. Now, they’ll need build a formidable team in the bidding event. Notably, IPL 2022 mega auction will take place in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13. As many as 590 players – 370 Indians and 220 overseas – are set to go under the hammer and all 10 franchises would be busy brainstorming ahead of the event. Meanwhile, the gala tournament is expected to get underway in the last week of March this year.