ISLAMABAD: Australia's Matthew Wade and England's Adil Rashid are some of the big names of foreign cricketers roped in by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to feature in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 this year, announced the cricket board on Thursday.
The PSL is Pakistan's professional T20 cricket league held every year in February and March. The league features six teams, each representing a city in Pakistan and has quickly become Pakistan's top sporting event.
The seventh edition of the tournament was held in Pakistan and was won by the Lahore Qalandars, captained by Shaheen Shah Afridi. This year, the PSL will be held in four Pakistani cities from February 13 to March 19.
On Thursday, the PSL Player Draft 2023 was held in Karachi where the franchises got to pick their players.
"Sri Lanka’s 2022 Asia Cup winning duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, England and Australia’s ICC T20 Men’s World Cup winners Adil Rashid and Matthew Wade, respectively, New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham and Tabraiz Shamsi of South Africa will make their HBL Pakistan Super League debuts in the eighth edition of the tournament," the PCB said in a statement.
Hasaranga was picked up by Quetta Gladiators, while Peshawar Zalmi scooped up Rajapaksa. Australia's Wade was picked by Karachi Kings in the draft. The trio were picked in the Platinum Category
Neesham, on the other hand, was picked by Peshawar Zalmi, which will now be captained by Babar Azam. Multan Sultans lost Imran Tahir to Karachi Kings but roped in another ace spinner, England's Rashid. South African leg-spinner Shamsi was picked by Karachi Kings. These three players were picked in the Supplementary round of the draft.
Four teenagers were also picked by four different PSL franchises after their impressive showing in the Pakistan Junior League. "Mardan Warriors’ Aimal Khan was selected by Quetta Gladiators, Arafat Minhas of Gwadar Sharks was picked by Multan Sultans, Mardan Warriors’ Haseebullah was snapped up by Peshawar Zalmi and Shawaiz Irfan of Bahawalpur Royals was selected by Lahore Qalandars," the PCB said.
Squads:
Islamabad United – Alex Hales (England), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan), Shadab Khan (all Platinum), Asif Ali, Fazal Haq Farooqi (Afghanistan), Wasim Jr (all Diamond), Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali (all Gold), Abrar Ahmed, Colin Munro (New Zealand), Paul Stirling (Ireland), Rumman Raees, Sohaib Maqsood (all Silver), Hassan Nawaz, Zeeshan Zamir (both Emerging). Moeen Ali (England) and Mubasir Khan (Supplementary)
Karachi Kings – Haider Ali, Imran Tahir (South Africa), Matthew Wade (Australia) (all Platinum), Imad Wasim, James Fuller (New Zealand), James Vince (both England) (all Diamond), Andrew Tye (Australia), Mohammad Amir, Shoaib Malik (all Gold), Aamer Yamin, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Akhlaq, Sharjeel Khan, Tayyab Tahir (all Silver), Irfan Khan Niazi, Qasim Akram (both Emerging). Mohammad Umar and Tabraiz Shamsi (South Africa) (Supplementary)
Lahore Qalandars – Fakhar Zaman, Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Shaheen Shah Afridi (all Platinum), Dawid Wiese (Namibia), Hussain Talat, Haris Rauf (all Diamond), Abdullah Shafique, Liam Dawson (England), Sikander Raza (Zimbabwe) (all Gold), Ahmad Daniyal, Dilbar Hussain, Harry Brook (England), Kamran Ghulam, Mirza Tahir Baig (all Silver), Shawaiz Irfan, Zaman Khan (both Emerging). Jalat Khan and Jordan Cox (England) (both Supplementary)
Multan Sultans – David Miller (South Africa), Josh Little (Ireland), Mohammad Rizwan (all Platinum), Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw (South Africa), Shan Masood (all Diamond), Akeal Hosein (West Indies), Shahnawaz Dahani, Tim David (Australia) (all Gold), Anwar Ali, Sameen Gul, Sarwar Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan (both Silver), Abbas Afridi, Ihsanullah (both Emerging). Adil Rashid (England) and Arafat Minhas (Supplementary).
Peshawar Zalmi –Babar Azam, Rovman Powell (West Indies), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), (all Platinum), Mujeeb Ur Rehman (Afghanistan), Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies), Wahab Riaz (all Diamond), Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris (all Gold), Aamer Jamal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (England), Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir (all Silver), Haseebullah Khan, Sufyan Muqeem (both Emerging). Jimmy Neesham (New Zealand) (Supplementary). Peshawar Zalmi will pick their second Supplementary at the Replacement Draft.
Quetta Gladiators – Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka) (all Platinum), Iftikhar Ahmed, Jason Roy (England), Odean Smith (West Indies) (all Diamond), Ahsan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Sarfaraz Ahmed (all Gold), Mohammad Zahid, Naveen-ul-Haq (Afghanistan), Umar Akmal, Umaid Asif, Will Smeed (England) (all Silver), Aimal Khan, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (both Emerging). Martin Guptill (New Zealand) and Omair Bin Yousuf (Supplementary).
