The Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) draft was held at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore today ahead of the fifth edition in 2020. All franchises were keen on making the most of this opportunity by assembling the best possible squads.
England’s opener Jason Roy, who was part of the 2019 World Cup winning squad, joined Quetta Gladiators as the first pick of the day, while Australia’s hard-hitting batsman Chris Lynn was bagged by Lahore Qalandars in the platinum round.
Karachi Kings grabbed the spotlight by picking England’s opener Alex Hales and Pakistan’s returning opener Sharjeel Khan. The two players have not been active for a considerable time and will be the wildcards who can provide considerable batting firepower.
Multan Sultans’ top pick of the day was England’s all-rounder Moeen Ali while Islamabad United chose veteran pacer Dale Steyn to bolster their pace battery for the upcoming edition of the league.
Islamabad United were also successful in roping in South Africa’s hard-hitting batsman Colin Ingram while Multan Sultans’ bagged his fellow South African Rilee Rossouw.
COMPLETE SQUADS
KARACHI KINGS
MULTAN SULTANS
PESHAWAR ZALMI
QUETTA GLADIATORS
LAHORE QALANDARS
ISLAMABAD UNITED
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That was a fasinating experience and we hope you enjoyed our coverage. Until next time, goodbye!
AWAIS ZIA IS THE LAST PICK FOR KARACHI KINGS IN THE SUPPLEMENTARY ROUND
SOUTH AFRICA'S VAN DER DUSSEN GETS PICKED BY ISLAMABAD UNITED
LAHORE QALANDARS CHOOSE DILBAR HUSSAIN AS THEIR FINAL PICK IN THE SUPPLEMENTARY ROUND
HAIDER ALI GETS PICKED BY PESHAWAR ZALMI
THE FIERY BILAWAL BHATTI MOVES TO MULTAN SULTANS
QUETTA GLADIATORS CHOOSE KHURRAM MANZOOR IN THE SUPPLEMENTARY CATEGORY
PAKISTAN'S SAIF BADAR GOES TO ISLAMABAD UNITED
LAHORE QALANDARS BAG WEST INDIES BATSMAN LENDL SIMMONS
KEEMO PAUL IS QUETTA GLADIATORS SUPPLEMENTARY ROUND PICK
PESHAWAR ZALMI OPT FOR LIAM LIVINGSTONE
IMRAN TAHIR RETURNS TO MULTAN SULTANS
KARACHI PICK ENGLANDS'S PACER LIAM PLUNKETT
We now move on to the supplementary round!
QUETTA GLADIATORS CHOOSE AZAM KHAN IN THE EMERGING CATEGORY
PESHAWAR BAG ALL-ROUNDER AAMIR ALI
AHMED SAFI ABDULLAH MOVES TO ISLAMABAD UNITED
LAHORE QALANDARS BAG MOHAMMAD FAIZAN
ISLAMABAD UNITED PICK LEFT-ARM PACER AKIF JAVED
KARACHI KINGS CHOOSE ARSHAD IQBAL IN THE EMERGING PLAYERS ROUND
AMIR KHAN FROM SWAT GETS PICKED BY PESHAWAR ZALMI
QUETTA GLADIATORS CHOOSE AARISH KHAN IN THE EMERGING PLAYERS ROUND
MULTAN SULTANS OPT FOR WICKETKEEPER-BATSMAN ROHAIL NAZIR
It is now time for the emerging players category!
JAAHID ALI GOES TO LAHORE QALANDARS AS THE SILVER ROUND CONTINUES
KARACHI KINGS BAGS UNITED STATES (US) PACER ALI KHAN
ADIL AMIN GOES TO PESHAWAR ZALMI
MULTAN SULTANS OPT FOR FABIAN ALLEN AS THEIR SILVER ROUND PICK
PESHAWAR ZALMI GO WITH DWAINE PRETORIUS AS THE SILVER ROUND CONTINUES
LAHORE QALANDARS BAG IN FARZAN RAJA
KARACHI KINGS PICK ENGLAND’S DAN LAWRENCE
A SURPRISE PICK FOR QUETTA GLADIATORS AS THEY OPT FOR ABDUL NASIR IN THE SILVER ROUND
The Yellow Storm is rising.
QUETTA GLADIATORS BAG ENGLAND'S PACER TYMAL MILLS
LEG-SPINNER USMAN QADIR HAS BEEN ROPED IN BY MULTAN SULTANS
KARACHI KINGS PICKS UMAID ASIF
PESHAWAR ZALMI STOCK UP ON PACERS WITH RAHAT ALI IN THE SILVER ROUND
LAHORE QALANDARS PICK AUSTRALIA'S WICKETKEEPER-BATSMAN BEN DUNK
Mohammad Mohsin is excited to participate in the PSL5.
ISLAMABAD UNITED OPT FOR ZAFAR GOHAR
ANOTHER RETURN, AS MOHAMMAD RIZWAN IS BAGGED BY KARACHI KINGS IN THE SILVER ROUND
ENGLAND'S PHIL SALT RETURNS TO ISLAMABAD UNITED
LAHORE QALANDARS CHOOSE SRI LANKA'S SEEKKUGE PRASANNA AS THE SILVER ROUND CONTINUES
THE HARD-HITTING KHUSHDIL SHAH WILL BE PART OF THE MULTAN SULTANS
PESHAWAR ZALMI ROPE IN SPINNER MOHAMMAD MOHSIN IN THE SILVER ROUND
SOHAIL KHAN WILL NOW BE A PART OF THE QUETTA GLADIATORS CAMP
Islamabad United promoting their ace pacer on social media.
WE NOW MOVE TO THE SILVER ROUND!
Pakistan's T20I captain will play as the vice-captain of the Karachi Kings franchise. Some people are not happy with the decision.
Some might not be as excited as the majority of fans around Pakistan.
Is this the best pick of the draft?
Is Pakistan ready for Chris Lynn?
England's rising star was in demand. Great pick.
Quetta Gladiators seem to be getting things right.
Some banter along the way.
KARACHI KINGS CHOOSE CAMERON DELPORT IN THE GOLD ROUND
QUETTA GLADIATORS CHOOSE AUSTRALIA'S FAWAD AHMED IN THE GOLD ROUND
PESHAWAR ZALMI CHOOSE ENGLAND'S LIAM DAWSON IN THE GOLD ROUND
KARACHI KINGS CHOOSE PAKISTAN'S OPENER SHARJEEL KHAN IN THE GOLD ROUND
MULTAN SULTANS CHOOSE PAKISTAN'S SOHAIL TANVIR IN THE GOLD ROUND
ISLAMABAD UNITED CHOOSE FAST-BOWLER RUMMAN RAEES IN THE GOLD ROUND
LAHORE QALANDARS CHOOSE ENGLAND'S SAMIT PATEL IN THE GOLD ROUND
PESHAWAR ZALMI CHOOSE PAKISTAN'S ALL-ROUNDER SHOAIB MALIK
MULTAN SULTANS CHOOSE ENGLAND'S ALL-ROUNDER RAVI BOPARA
MULTAN SULTANS CHOOSE ZEESHAN ASHRAF AS THEIR WILD CARD PICK
An interesting pick coming up?
QUETTA GLADIATORS CHOOSE AUSTRALIA'S ALL-ROUNDER BEN CUTTING IN THE DIAMOND ROUND
KARACHI KINGS CHOOSE ENGLAND'S CHRIS JORDAN IN THE DIAMOND ROUND
ISLAMABAD UNITED CHOOSE NEW ZEALAND'S COLIN MUNRO IN THE DIAMOND ROUND
PESHAWAR ZALMI CHOOSE ENGLAND'S RISING T20 STAR TOM BANTON IN THE DIAMOND ROUND
THE DIAMOND ROUND BEGINS!
MULTAN SULTANS CHOOSE RILEE ROSSOUW
ISLAMABAD UNITED CHOOSE SOUTH AFRICA'S COLIN INGRAM
KARACHI KINGS CHOOSE ENGLAND'S ALEX HALES AS THEIR PLATINUM PICK
ISLAMABAD UNITED CHOOSE SOUTH AFRICA'S DALE STEYN AS THEIR PLATINUM PICK
MULTAN SULTANS CHOOSE ENGLAND'S MOEEN ALI AS THEIR PLATINUM PICK
LAHORE QALANDARS CHOOSE AUSTRALIA'S CHRIS LYNN AS THEIR PLATINUM PICK
QUETTA GLADIATORS CHOOSE ENGLAND BATSMAN JASON ROY AS THEIR FIRST PLATINUM PICK
Formalities out of the way, here we go!
THE FRANCHISE OWNERS ARE ON THE STAGE!
PCB CEO Wasim Khan: “You can’t really measure passion. PSL delivers far more beyond the imagination. We have been really busy getting everything ready. We know the quality of cricket is going to be great.”
PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani: “Today we set the tone for HBL PSL 2020. The PSL is a source of pride for the entire nation. It belongs to all of us. All the franchise owners are stakeholders in the PSL, without them we are nothing. For me the biggest stakeholders are the fans. This will inspire a whole new generation of young stars who will get to witness their heroes in action.”
"Sarfaraz Ahmed is our captain for unlimited period of time," said Quetta Gladiatiors owner Nadeem Omer.
Multan Sultans have announced the appointment of former batsman Andrew Flower, a World T20 winning coach as their new Head Coach.
Lahore Qalandars Owner Fawad Rana: “Today is a big day for us. I would like to congratulate the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Prime Minister Imran Khan. I am grateful to the fans who have always supported us.”
Karachi Kings Director Salman Iqbal: “The biggest news is that all the matches in this edition of the league will be held in Pakistan. Fans will be able to witness all the action. Imad Wasim will lead the side while Babar Azam will be the vice-captain. We will try to pick the best team. Imad is a great captain. It is not mandatory that the captain of the Pakistan side leads the franchise as well.”
Peshawar Zalmi Owner Javed Afridi: “The dream we had four years ago is about to become true. The return of cricket to the country is a source of happiness for all. Many fans of the franchise ask me why there are not more players from the KPK region in the franchise. I do not want to talk about regions. All players are Pakistanis.”
Karachi Kings have retained all-rounder Imad Wasim as captain. Prolific batsman Babar Azam will serve as the vice-captain for the franchise.
Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) Player Draft pick order for the 2020 season was announced on November 4 following the first-round pick order reveal on November 3.
The first round picks were revealed through the depiction of an age-old street cricket tradition involving the cricket bat.
Reigning HBL PSL champions Quetta Gladiators have the first pick, Lahore Qalandars second, Multan Sultans third, two-time former champions Islamabad United fourth, former champions Peshawar Zalmi got the fifth while Karachi Kings had to settle for the sixth and final pick in the order determined using the cricket bat method.
A specially-designed statistical model was used to decide the pick order for the remaining 17 rounds of the Draft.
As part of this year’s Draft policy, each team can retain up to eight players from last year’s roster. The requirement for teams to pick five foreign players in a squad of 16 players remains unchanged from the previous editions of the HBL PSL.
Following is the complete list of players retained and released by the franchises:
Karachi Kings
Players retained - Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir (both Platinum), Imad Wasim (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Iftikhar Ahmed (Diamond), Aamir Yamin (Gold), Usama Mir (Silver) and Umer Khan (Emerging)
Players released - Aaron Summers, Abrar Ahmed, Ali Imran, Awais Zia, Ben Dunk, Colin Ingram, Colin Munro, Jaahid Ali, Liam Livingstone, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravi Bopara, Sikander Raza, Sohail Khan and Usman Shinwari (transferred to Lahore Qalandars)
Lahore Qalandars
Players retained - Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez (both Platinum), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), David Wiese, Usman Shinwari (Diamond, Usman transferred from Karachi Kings), Haris Rauf, Sohail Akhtar (both Gold), Salman Butt (Silver).
Players released - AB de Villiers (not available in 2020), Agha Salman, Aizaz Cheema, Anton Devcich, Asela Gunaratne, Brendan Taylor, Carlos Brathwaite, Corey Anderson (not available in 2020), Gohar Ali, Hardus Viljoen, Haris Sohail, Hassan Khan, Mohammad Imran, Rahat Ali, Riki Wessels, Ryan ten Doeschate (not available in 2020), Saad Ali, Sandeep Lamichhane, Umair Masood, Yasir Shah
Quetta Gladiators
Players retained – Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed (both Platinum), Shane Watson (Diamond as Player Mentor), Ahmed Shehzad (Diamond), Umar Akmal (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Mohammad Hasnain (Gold), Ahsan Ali and Naseem Shah (Silver)
Players released - Anwar Ali, Danish Aziz, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Fawad Ahmed, Ghulam Mudassar, Harry Gurney, Jalat Khan, Max Waller, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Azam Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Rilee Rossouw, Saud Shakil and Sohail Tanvir
Peshawar Zalmi
Players retained – Hasan Ali, Kieron Pollard, Wahab Riaz (all Platinum), Kamran Akmal (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Daren Sammy (Gold as Player Mentor) Imam-ul-Haq (Gold) and Umar Amin (Silver)
Players released - Andre Fletcher, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Ibtesam Sheikh, Jamal Anwar, Khalid Usman, Lendl Simmons, Liam Dawson, Misbah-ul-Haq (not available in 2020), Nabi Gul, Sameen Gul, Samiullah, Sohaib Maqsood, Tymal Mills, Umaid Asif, Waqar Salamkheil and Wayne Madsen
Multan Sultans
Players retained - Shahid Afridi (Diamond as Mentor), James Vince (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Mohammad Irfan (Platinum), Junaid Khan (Gold), Shan Masood (Silver), Ali Shafiq (Silver), Mohammad Ilyas (Emerging).
Players released - Andre Russell, Steve Smith (both not available), Chris Green, Dan Christian, Hammad Azam, Joe Denly, J Charles, Laurie Evans, Irfan Khan, M Abbas, M Junaid, N Pooran, Numan Ali, Qais Ahmed, Shakeel Ansar, Shoaib Malik, Tom Moores and Umar Siddiq
Islamabad United
Players retained - Shadab Khan (Platinum), Faheem Ashraf (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Asif Ali (Diamond), Luke Ronchi (Gold as Mentor), Hussain Talat (Gold), Ammad Butt (Silver), Musa Khan (Silver), Rizwan Hussain (Silver)
Players released - Alex Hales, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton, Ian Bell, Mohammad Sami, Nasir Nawaz, Philip Salt, Rumman Raees, Sahibzada Farhan, Samit Patel, Waqas Maqsood, Wayne Parnell, Zafar Gohar and Zahir Khan
In addition, teams will be allowed to pick two supplementary players out of which one can be a foreign player.
However teams will have a chance to field a minimum of three and a maximum of four foreign players in the XI.
HBL PSL have introduced the wildcard pick rule for the 2020 season. A wildcard pick enables teams to pick players from Silver or Gold in the Diamond category round or, alternatively, a player from Silver in the Gold category round at the Draft. Each team will be allowed to exercise one wildcard pick at the Draft and bump-up a player accordingly.
The HBL PSL 2020 will be staged in Pakistan with action set to start in February 2020.