HBL PSL 7 Draft: Umar Akmal returns as franchises make major gains

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The biggest surprise from the retentions was the exclusion of Fakhar Zaman from the Lahore Qalandars' squad. However, the Lahore management had the first Platinum pick and they immediately re-signed Fakhar as part of their elaborate plan.

Umar Akmal is back in PSL and he is reunited with Quetta Gladiators whereas Jason Roy has also be featuring alongside Sarfaraz Ahmed for the seventh edition of PSL.

Kamran Akmal, who was also released by Peshawar Zalmi, remained unpicked until the very last round of the Silver category pick but he was snatched by Peshawar Zalmi once again.

Some prominent players remained unpicked as no franchise opted for Chris Gayle, Ahmad Shehzad, Sahibzada Farhan, Ben Dunk, Amad Butt, Junaid Khan, Zahid Mehmood, Umer Khan, and more!

Here are the complete picks of each franchise for different categories:

Platinum Category

Each team had one pick in the platinum category; Lahore Qalandars re-pick Fakhar Zaman whom they previously left out of the retentions because they had the first pick.

Fakhar Zaman - Lahore Qalandars
Tim David - Multan Sultans
Chris Jordan - Karachi Kings
Colin Munro - Islamabad United
Hazratullah Zazai - Peshawar Zalmi
Jason Roy - Quetta Gladiators

Diamond Category

Some surprise picks as Islamabad United have picked Marchant de Lange for his debut appearance in the PSL whereas Australian James Faulkner moves to Quetta Gladiators.

Marchant de Lange - Islamabad United
Odean Smith - Multan Sultans
Lewis Gregory - Karachi Kings
James Faulkner - Quetta Gladiators

Gold Category

Recently granted his debut for the national team, Abdullah Shafique has been picked by Lahore Qalandars whereas Peshawar takes the spin wizard Usman Qadir.

Abdullah Shafique - Lahore Qalandars
Usman Qadir - Peshawar Zalmi
Phil Salt - Lahore Qalandars
Harry Brook - Lahore Qalandars

Silver Category

There were a total of 24 picks for the Silver Category; franchises often preferred picking players which have already featured for their team and re-picking them again on the main stage.

The most prominent development is perhaps that Kamran Akmal has again been picked by Peshawar Zalmi whereas Umar Akmal returns to PSL with Quetta Gladiators.

Silver Phase 1

Salman Irshad - Peshawar Zalmi
Rumman Raees - Multan Sultans
Umaid Asif - Karachi Kings
Asif Afridi - Multan Sultans
Kamran Ghulam - Lahore Qalandars
Muhammad Akhlaq - Islamabad United

Silver Phase 2

Anwar Ali - Multan Sultans
Reece Topley - Islamabad United
Tom Abell - Karachi Kings
Dean Foxcroft - Lahore Qalandars
Umar Akmal - Quetta Gladiators
Danish Aziz - Islamabad United

Silver Phase 3

Sohail Tanvir - Quetta Gladiators
Rohail Nazir - Karachi Kings
Zafar Gohar - Islamabad United
Arshad Iqbal - Peshawar Zalmi
Rovman Powell - Multan Sultans

Silver Phase 4

Muhammad Imran jr - Karachi Kings
Sameen Gul - Peshawar Zalmi
Ben Duckett - Quetta Gladiators
Imran Khan sr - Multan Sultans

Silver Phase 5

Kamran Akmal - Peshawar Zalmi
Khurram Shehzad - Quetta Gladiators
Naveen-ul-Haq - Quetta Gladiators

Emerging Category

PSL has paved a successful path for the youngsters to play international cricket for Pakistan; previously seen with Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Ilyas and many more.

Pakistan U-19 captain Qasim Akram has been picked by Karachi Kings whereas recent performer in National T20 Cup and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Bangalzai moves to Quetta.

Emerging Phase 1

Zaman Khan - Lahore Qalandars
Abbas Afridi - Multan Sultans
Faisal Akram - Karachi Kings
Sirajuddin - Peshawar Zalmi
Qasim Akram - Karachi Kings (Right to Match from Islamabad United)
Mubasir Khan - Islamabad United
Abdul Wahid Bangalzai - Quetta Gladiators

Emerging Phase 2

Aamer Azmat - Multan Sultans
Zeeshan Zameer - Islamabad United
Mohammad Amir Khan - Peshawar Zalmi
Ashar Qureshi - Quetta Gladiators
Maaz Khan - Lahore Qalandars

Supplementary Category

Players in this category can be retained for the next season's draft as well and with that in mind, Ben Cutting is the pick of this category as he moves to Peshawar Zalmi.

Other talented players such as Afghanistan's Noor Ahmed and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have also been included in the category picks by Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United respectively.

Supplementary Phase 1

Noor Ahmed - Quetta Gladiators
Talha Ahsan - Karachi Kings
Blessing Muzarabani - Multan Sultans
Ben Cutting - Peshawar Zalmi
Rahmanullah Gurbaz - Islamabad United
Samit Patel - Lahore Qalandars

Supplementary Phase 2

Mohammad Haris - Peshawar Zalmi
Ather Mehmood - Islamabad United
Romario Shepherd - Karachi Kings
Ahsan Ali - Quetta Gladiators
Ihsanullah - Multan Sultans
Syed Faridoun - Lahore Qalandars