ISLAMABAD: In a major Pakistan Super League (PSL) 8 trade, Peshawar Zalmi announced on Friday it had signed Pakistan’s all-format skipper Babar Azam for the eighth edition of the cricket tournament, as Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik move to Karachi Kings.
PSL is Pakistan’s own professional T20 cricket league contested between February and March each year. The league features six franchises, each representing a Pakistani city. Lahore Qalandars won the PSL 7 trophy during last year’s edition.
Azam, appointed captain of the Kings franchise by owner Salman Iqbal, was severely criticized last year after his team lost seven consecutive matches in PSL 7.
According to a local media report, Azam’s relationship with Karachi Kings deteriorated over “financial issues and concerns over the player’s image.”
“In one of the biggest trades of the tournament, 2017 champions Peshawar Zalmi snapped Babar in the Platinum category and the first pick in the supplementary round for Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik who move to Karachi Kings,” the PCB said in a statement, referring to the PSL retentions.
During a PSL trade and retention window, a franchise can assemble up to eight players before the PSL Player Draft, in which it can increase the squad side to 18 players. Of these 18, three are selected each in Platinum, Diamond and Gold categories, five Silver, two Emerging and up to two Supplementary categories.
Complete list of retained players:
Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (Platinum). Asif Ali (Brand Ambassador) and Mohammad Wasim Jr. (Diamond). Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf and Hasan Ali (Gold). Colin Munro and Paul Stirling (Silver).
Karachi Kings: Haider Ali (Platinum). Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir and Shoaib Malik (Diamond). Aamir Yamin, Mir Hamza and Sharjeel Khan (Silver). Qasim Akram (Emerging)
Lahore Qalandars: Rashid Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi (Platinum). David Wiese (Diamond). Abdullah Shafique (Gold). Harry Brook and Kamran Ghulam (Silver). Zaman Khan (Emerging). Eighth retention to be announced in due course.
Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (Platinum). Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw and Shan Masood (Diamond). Shahnawaz Dahani (Brand Ambassador) and Tim David (Gold). Abbas Afridi and Ihsanullah (Emerging).
Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam (Platinum). Sherfane Rutherford and Wahab Riaz (Diamond). Mohammad Haris (Gold). Aamir Jamal (Brand Ambassador), Salman Irshad and Tom-Kohler Cadmore (Silver).
Quetta Gladiators: Mohammad Nawaz (Platinum). Iftikhar Ahmed and Jason Roy (Diamond). Mohammad Hasnain and Sarfaraz Ahmed (Gold). Naveen ul Haq, Umar Akmal (Mentor) and Will Smeed (Silver).
Meanwhile, the PCB announced 493 leading international cricketers around the world have made themselves available for the PSL 8 Player Draft.
Of these, 29 are in Platinum category and 81 in Diamond from both full member and associate cricket nations. Below are the list of foreign players who have registered for the PSL 8 Player Draft:
Platinum — Aaron Finch, Adil Rashid, Akeal Hosein, Alex Hales, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Colin De Grandhomme, Dasun Shanaka, David Miller, Dawid Malan, Evin Lewis, Jimmy Neesham, Lungi Ngidi, Martin Guptill, Moeen Ali, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb ur Rehman, Nicholas Pooran, Odean Smith, Rahkeem Cornwall, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rashid Khan, Rassie van der Dussen, Reece Topley, Saqib Mahmood, Shakib Al Hasan, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tom Curran, Tymal Mills and Wanindu Hasaranga De Silva.
