KL Rahul of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rashid Khan of the Sunrisers Hyderabad were two of the high profile names released by Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad during the retentions. Speculations were rife that Goenka's Lucknow team was eyeing the two players before the mega auction as BCCI allowed the two new teams sign three players at the draft which has opened after the retention. But neither Lucknow nor Ahmedabad has signed any player yet and according to InsideSport, the BCCI has asked Team Lucknow not to sign any player as Team Ahmedabad has come under the scanner because of its owner CVC’s alleged links with betting companies.
The deadline fixed by the BCCI to pick the three players was December 25. Earlier it was reported that Lucknow was interested in signing India opener KL Rahul and star Aghanistan spinner Rashid Khan. RPSG group is the owner of the Lucknow franchise after bid for Rs 7,090, while CVC Capital successfully bid for Ahmedabad with Rs 5,625 crore. The IPL 2022 mega auction is likely to be held in the last week of December or in the first week of January 2022. It may be recalled that the existing IPL franchises had already submitted the list of players which they had retained in their squad. It is to be noted that two new teams – Lucknow and Ahmedabad – will also participate in IPL 2022 which is likely to begin from April 2.
