The Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises have announced their player retentions ahead of the draft for the fifth edition of the tournament.

Almost all the key members of the Pakistan Twenty20 International (T20I) side have been retained by their respective teams. 

The player retention list is headed by the T20I captain and world’s number one ranked batsman Babar Azam, who has been retained by Karachi Kings along with fast-bowler Mohammad Amir and all-rounder Imad Wasim.

Reigning champions Quetta Gladiators have kept faith in former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed along with pacer Mohammad Hasnain. The side have also withheld Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, who was player of HBL PSL 2019.

Islamabad United, champions in 2016 and 2018, have retained wrist spinner Shadab Khan and pacer Musa Khan along with New Zealand’s wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi, player of HBL PSL 2018.

Opener Fakhar Zaman, all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez and left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi will once again be in Lahore Qalandars’ colours, while former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been retained by Multan Sultans along with current Pakistan T20I player Mohammad Irfan.

Peshawar Zalmi, winners in 2017, have retained their ace pacers Hasan Ali and Wahab Riaz along with wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal.

The much-anticipated PSL Player Draft will be staged at the National Cricket Academy, Lahore, on December 6.

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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

The HBL PSL5 will be staged in Pakistan with action set to start in February 2020.