Ahead of the player draft for this year's Pakistan Super League, The Cricketer explains what happens between now and January 10
The draft for the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League will take place in Lahore on January 10.
The draft order for the opening round has already been decided: Islamabad United will pick first, followed by Multan Sultans, Lahore Qalandars, Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings.
Each team can sign three players in the platinum category, and Pakistan Super League officials have already revealed the 25-man longlist of overseas players.
Among them are PSL veterans and first-timers: Alex Hales was part of the Karachi Kings squad that won the most recent edition, while Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan is yet to feature in the competition. The same is true of South Africans Morne Morkel, David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen.
West Indies: Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Carlos Brathwaite, Evin Lewis
England: Chris Jordan, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan, Tom Banton
South Africa: Colin Ingram, Imran Tahir, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel
Australia: Chris Lynn
Sri Lanka: Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Bangladesh: Mustafizur Rahman
Nepal: Sandeep Lamichhane
The full list of overseas players entered into the draft has not yet been released.
Moeen Ali is one of 25 players on the overseas platinum list
Check out the category wise player lists for the #HBLPSLDraft
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) January 9, 2021
Platinum, Diamond, Gold (Foreign)
More: https://t.co/E9sW6c4rdZ pic.twitter.com/p5Uf3LrKBY
Gold (Local), Silver (Foreign) #HBLPSLDraft pic.twitter.com/RDh4EQhP4A
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) January 9, 2021
Silver (Local), Emerging #HBLPSLDraft pic.twitter.com/j3LzhqJuit
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) January 9, 2021
In December, local players across the six franchises were recategorised based on last year’s competition.
Ahead of the draft, teams have chosen who among their squads they wish to retain, trade or release.
Alex Hales and Colin Ingram have traded places. English batsman Hales returns to Islamabad United, where he played in 2018 and 2019, with South African Colin Ingram going the other way, re-joining reigning champions Karachi Kings, for whom he also played in the past.
The swap marked the only trade completed by the six franchises, who have submitted their pre-draft lists of retained and released players.
Unsurprisingly, Karachi opted to keep hold of Babar Azam, who starred during their successful 2020 campaign. Likewise, Islamabad have retained the services of Shadab Khan.
Teams were permitted to hold onto up to eight players, though Peshawar Zalmi kept just five.
Mohammad Hafeez, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Sarfraz Ahmed and Shahid Afridi were among the Pakistani players in the platinum category retained – by Lahore Qalandars, Peshawar, Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans, respectively.
Among the overseas players who will remain with their 2020 teams, Ben Dunk and David Wiese have signed on again with Qalandars, Imran Tahir and James Vince with Multan, Liam Livingstone with Peshawar and Ben Cutting with Quetta.
Retained – Alex Hales (Platinum; traded from Karachi Kings); Asif Ali (gold); Colin Munro (diamond); Faheem Ashraf (diamond); Hussain Talat (gold, brand ambassador); Musa Khan (silver, successful relegation request); Shadab Khan (platinum); Zafar Gohar (silver, successful relegation request)
Released – Ahmer Safi Abdullah, Akif Javed, Amad Butt, Dale Steyn, Luke Ronchi (unavailable due to coaching duties in New Zealand), Phil Salt, Rassie van der Dussen, Rizwan Hussain, Rumman Raees and Saif Badar
Retained - Amir Yamin (gold); Arshad Iqbal (emerging); Babar Azam (platinum); Colin Ingram (platinum, traded from Islamabad United); Imad Wasim (diamond, successful relation request); Mohammad Amir (platinum); Sharjeel Khan gold) and Waqas Maqsood (silver, brand ambassador)
Released – Ali Khan, Awais Zia, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton, Chris Jordan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mitchell McCleneghan, Mohammad Rizwan, Umaid Asif, Umer Khan and Usama Mir
Retained - Ben Dunk (gold); David Wiese (diamond); Dilbar Hussain (gold); Fakhar Zaman (diamond, brand ambassador); Haris Rauf (diamond); Mohammad Hafeez; Shaheen Shah Afridi (both platinum) and Sohail Akhtar (silver, successful relegation request)
Released – Abid Ali, Agha Salman, Chris Lynn, Dane Vilas, Dilbar Hussain, Farzan Raja, Jaahid Ali, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Faizan, Salman Butt, Salman Irshad, Samit Patel, Seekkuge Prasanna and Usman Shinwari
Karachi Kings won last year's tournament
Retained - Shahid Afridi (platinum), Imran Tahir (diamond, mentor); James Vince (gold); Khushdil Shah (diamond); Rilee Rossouw (platinum); Shan Masood (gold, successful relegation request); Sohail Tanvir (Diamond, brand ambassador); Usman Qadir (gold)
Released – Ali Shafiq, Asad Shafiq, Bilawal Bhatti, Fabian Allen, Junaid Khan, Moeen Ali, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Ravi Bopara, Rohail Nazir, Wayne Madsen and Zeeshan Ashraf
Retained – Haider Ali (gold); Kamran Akmal (diamond, successful relegation request); Liam Livingstone (gold); Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz (both platinum)
Released – Aamir Ali, Adil Amin, Amir Khan, Carlos Brathwaite, Hammad Azam, Hassan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kieron Pollard, Lewis Gregory, Liam Dawson (unavailable), Mohammad Mohsin, Rahat Ali, Sikandar Raza, Tom Banton, Umar Amin and Yasir Shah
Retained - Anwar Ali (silver, successful relegation request); Azam Khan (gold); Ben Cutting (diamond); Mohammad Hasnain (diamond); Mohammad Nawaz (diamond); Naseem Shah (gold); Sarfaraz Ahmed (platinum) and Zahid Mahmood (silver, brand ambassador)
Released – Aarish Ali Khan, Abdul Nasir, Ahmed Shehzad, Ahsan Ali, Fawad Ahmad, Jason Roy (unavailable), Keemo Paul, Khurram Manzoor, Omair bin Yousuf, Shane Watson (retired), Sohail Khan, Tymal Mills (unavailable) and Umar Akmal (suspended)
One challenge facing this edition of the Pakistan Super League is likely to be the availability of star overseas players. Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the international programme for 2021 is even busier than normal. As a result, some players will only be available for part of the tournament.
“We are delighted to release a star-studded list of players in the platinum category even though we are dealing with an unprecedented situation due to Covid-19 and player availabilities are also hampered by a packed FTP calendar,” said Babar Hamid, the competition’s commercial director.
“The HBL Pakistan Super League 2021 will be another exciting season once again being played in Pakistan. The quality of players on the list is a further testament of the credibility and integrity of the league as it continues to attract the best T20 talent from around the world.
“In the coming days, we will work as hard as ever on successful delivery of the event with all stakeholders as we are determined and focussed on producing another world-class event while raising the bar higher and ensuring the safety and security of all participants.”
Take the example of Moeen Ali, who represented Multan Sultans last year and is among the 25-man platinum list this time around. With England set to tour India following their two-Test series in Sri Lanka, his availability would likely be compromised if selected.
Likewise, the case of Mustafizur Rahman: Bangladesh are due in New Zealand for a white-ball visit in March.
ICC T20I player of the decade Rashid Khan will likely be in high demand
The Cricketer understands that the price brackets for the 2021 tournament are as follows:
Platinum players will have a base price of $130,000 and a maximum price of $170,000.
Diamond players will have a base price of $60,000 and a maximum price of $85,000.
Gold players will have a base price of $40,000 and a maximum price of $50,000.
Silver players will have a base price of $15,000 and a maximum price of $25,000.
Emerging players will have a price of $7,500.
Supplementary players will have a price of $50,000.
It will be broadcast live on the Pakistan Super League's YouTube channel.
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