KARACHI (Monitoring Desk): All six franchises of Pakistan Super League completed their team line-up on Sunday after picking players in six different categories to complete the squad of 20. Lahore could pick only 19 after they exhausted the limit of pay-scale.
All the teams entered the drafts for third edition with squad of 9 retained players and picked 7 more. One each in Platinum, Diamond and Gold category and two each from silver and emerging players’ categories.
Sunday’s draft started with Lahore Qalandars making the first pick in Platinum category by opting for Australia’s most sought after T20 player Chris Lynn.
The Qalandars franchise later picked Mustafiz ur Rehman of Bangladesh in Diamond and Bilal Asif in Gold category.
Lahore picked left-arm spinner Raza Hassan and all-rounder Sohail Akhtar in silver category while Shaheen Afridi and Ghulam Mudassar were picked in category of emerging players.
In Supplementary category, Lahore Qalandars picked Sri Lanka’s Angelo Matthews, New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan and Gulraiz Sadaf to complete their squad.
South Africa’s JP Duminy was picked from platinum category by Islamabad United. The franchise also picked Luke Ronchi in Diamond and Fahim Ashraf in Gold category.
Sam Billings and Zafar Gohar were picked by Islamabad United in Silver categories while dashing batsman Sahibzada Farhan and all-rounder Hussain Talat were Islamabad’s emerging category picks.
England’s Alex Hales, David Willey, Pakistan’s Mohammad Hassan and Mohammad Husnain were picked by Islamabad as their four Supplementary category players to complete the squad of 20.
Karachi Kings picked Colin Ingram in platinum category, followed by Mitchell Johnson in Diamond and Luke Right in Gold category of players. David Wiese and Tabish Khan were Karachi’s Silver category picks while Mohammad Irfan Jr and Hassan Mohsin were picked by Kings in emerging players’ category.
Colin Munro, Eoin Morgan and Saifullah Bangash were Karachi’s Supplementary picks. The franchise skipped their fourth pick to nominate a player from their talent hunt program which will be held later this year.
Australia’s Shane Watson was picked by Quetta Gladiators in Platinum category. West Indian Carlos Brathwaite was picked by the franchise from Diamond category while Rahat Ali was picked in Gold category.
Saad Ali and Ramiz Raja Jr were picked by the Gladiators in Silver category while in emerging players’ category, Sarfraz-led gladiators opted for Saud Shakil and Hasaan Khan.
Quetta’s Supplementary players pick included England’s Jason Roy, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and local boys Azam Khan and Faraz Ahmed.
Defending champions Peshawar Zalmi picked Dwayne Bravo in Platinum category. Tamim Iqbal, who was earlier released by Zalmi, returned to the franchise in Diamond category of players while all-rounder Hammad Azam was picked by them in Gold.
Saad Naseem and Taimoor Sultan were Zalmi’s Silver category picks while Sameen Gul and Ibtisam Sheikh were picked by the defending champions in emerging players’ category.
West Indian Andre Fletcher and Evin Lewis along with Pakistani duo of Khalif Usman and Mohammad Arif were picked by Zalmis as Supplementary players.
Multan Sultans, the newly inducted team to PSL family, picked Pakistan born South African cricketer Imran Tahir in Platinum players’ category. Darren Bravo was picked by Sultans in Diamond players’ category.
Ahmad Shahzad, who was initially placed in Platinum category and remained unpicked, was chosen by Multan in Gold category after being twice relegated.
Pakistan’s Mohammad Abbas and West Indian Nicolas Pooran were Multan’s Silver category picks while Saif Badar and Abdullah Shafiq were picked as emerging category players by Shoaib Malik-led team for the third edition of the PSL.
Hardus Viljoen, Umar Gul, Umar Siddiq and Ross Whiteley were Sultan’s Supplementary category players.
Following is complete list of all teams:
LAHORE QALANDARS
Brendon McCullum, Umar Akmal, Sunil Narine, Fakhar Zaman, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan, Cameron Delport, Aamir Yamin, Bilawal Bhatti, Chris Lynn, Mustafiz ur Rehman, Bilal Asif, Raza Hassan, Sohail Akhtar, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Ghulam Mudassar, Angelo Matthews, Mitchell McClenaghan and Gulraiz Sadaf.
PESHAWAR ZALMI
Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal, Shakib Al Hassan, Darren Sammy, Hasan Ali, Haris Soahil, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Asghar, Dwayne Bravo, Tamim Iqbal, Hammad Azam, Saad Nasim, Taimoor Sultan, Sameen Gul, Ibtisam Sheikh, Andre Fletcher, Evin Lewis, Khalid Usman and Mohammad Arif.
QUETTA GLADIATORS
Sarfraz Ahmed, Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Rossouw, Asad Shafiq, Mahmoodullah, Anwar Ali, Mir Hamza, Umar Amin, Shane Watson, Carlos Braithwaite, Rahat Ali, Ramiz Raja Jnr, Saad Ali, Saud Shakil, Hasaan Khan, Jason Roy, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Azam Khan and Faraz Ahmed.
MULTAN SULTANS
Shoaib Malik, Keiron Pollard, Kumar Sangakkara, Sohail Tanvir, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Kashif Bhatti, Irfan Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Imran Tahir, Darren Bravo, Ahmad Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Nicolas Pooran, Abdullah Shafiq, Saif Badar, Hardus Viljoen, Umar Gul, Umar Saddiq and Ross Whitely.
KARACHI KINGS
Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Aamir, Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravi Bopara, Usman Shinwari, Usama Mir, Khurram Manzoor, Colin Ingram, Mitchell Johnson, Luke Wright, David Wiesee, Tabish Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Hasan Mohsin, Colin Munro, Eoin Morgan and Saifullah Bangash.
ISLAMABAD UNITED
Misbah ul Haq, Andre Russell, Samuel Badree, Mohammad Sami, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Ifikhar Ahmed, Ammad Butt, Asif Ali, JP Duminy, Luke Ronchi, Fahim Ashraf, Sam Billings, Zafar Gohar, Sahibzada Farhan, Hussain Talat, Alex Hales, David Willey, Muhammad Hassan and Muhammad Husnain.
‘Will bring cricket home’
As the ceremony was underway in Lahore, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Najam Sethi congratulated Multan Sultans for becoming the sixth team in the PSL.
Sethi said it is a matter of pride that the drafting of the third PSL edition is taking place today.
“This is the league that will bring cricket back home,” said Sethi, adding that the lineup of players this time around is better than ever before.
The PCB chief also said that they are trying their best that PSL matches are also held in Karachi this year, along with Lahore and the UAE.
