Gujarat Titans unveiled as team name for CVC Capital owned Ahmedabad franchise
Hardik Pandya (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
The CVC capital-owned Ahmedabad team has been named as Gujarat Titans. Last year, the company bought the Ahmedabad-based team for INR 5625 crores. The team has signed players Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Shubman Gill ahead of the player auction. Pandya and Khan were signed for 15 crores while Gill was signed for eight crores.
The remaining purse for the mega auction is INR 52 crores. The team has hired former India cricketer Ashish Nehra as head coach. They have also hired Gary Kirsten as batting coach while Vikram Solanki as the director of cricket. Kirsten is famous for being part of the 2011 World Cup-winning Indian team. Pandya will captain the team.
Pandya previously played for Mumbai from 2015 and was part of the winning team in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. He was released by the team ahead of the mega auction. Meanwhile, Rashid Khan made his debut for Hyderabad in 2017 and like Pandya, he was also released by the franchise. Gill made his debut for Kolkata in 2018, the same year in which he won the U19 World Cup for India.
Meanwhile, the trio of Solanki, Kirsten, and Nehra have previously worked together for Bangalore in 2019. Solanki left the Surrey head coach job to be part of the team as it was impossible for him to continue for the county.
Meanwhile, the other new team from Lucknow also revealed their name a few days back. They will be known as Lucknow Super Giants. The team will be led by KL Rahul and will also have Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi in the team. Andy Flower is the team’s head coach, while Gautam Gambhir will be the team mentor.
