HBL PSL 7: Franchises finalise retention picks; Fakhar and Akmal released

The seventh season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is edging closer and the franchises have finalised their retentions for the upcoming campaign of the domestic league.

Fakhar Zaman and Kamran Akmal have both been released from their respective franchises. Fakhar is likely to be picked by Qalandars again as they have the first pick of the Platinum category.

All four franchises, excluding Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans, have utilised their quota of either player retention. 

Karachi Kings

Karachi Kings recently appointed Babar Azam as the new captain of the franchise while retaining the ex-captain Imad Wasim as well. Mohammad Amir was rumoured to be unhappy with the franchise but he has also been retained.

- Platinum: Babar Azam, Imad Wasim

- Diamond: Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nabi

- Gold: Joe Clarke*, Aamer Yamin, Sharjeel Khan

- Silver: Mohammad Ilyas

*Brand Ambassador

Quetta Gladiators

Quetta Gladiators have made several gains as they traded Shahid Afridi, Iftikhar Ahmed, and James Vince earlier this week. Former captain of Pakistan national team Sarfaraz Ahmed has been retained as a platinum player.

- Platinum: James Vince, Sarfaraz Ahmed

- Diamond: Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz

- Gold: Shahid Afridi^, Mohammad Hasnain*, Naseem Shah

^Mentor, *Brand Ambassador

Lahore Qalandars

Fakhar Zaman, who is the most prolific batter for Qalandars, has been a shock omission as the retention list was released. In addition to him, Ben Dunk, Samit Patel, Dilbar Hussain, Agha Salman, Joe Denly, and Tom Abell have also been ignored.

- Platinum: Rashid Khan, Shaheen Afridi

- Diamond: Haris Rauf*, David Wiese, Mohammad Hafeez

- Silver: Ahmed Daniyal, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf

*Brand Ambassador

Islamabad United

Islamabad traded Azam Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed to Quetta Gladiators while retaining Asif Ali and Hasan Ali in the platinum category.

- Platinum: Asif Ali, Hasan Ali

- Diamond: Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan*

- Gold: Alex Hales^, Azam Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr.

- Silver: Paul Stirling

Multan Sultans

- Platinum: Mohammad Rizwan, Rilee Rossouw

- Diamond: Imran Tahir^, Shoaib Maqsood

- Gold: Khushdil Shah*, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood

^Mentor, *Brand Ambassador

Peshawar Zalmi

- Platinum: Wahab Riaz, Liam Livingstone

- Diamond: Haider Ali, Sherfane Rutherford, Shoaib Malik

- Gold: Hussain Talat, Saqib Mahmood*

- Silver: Tom Kohler-Cadmore

^Mentor, *Brand Ambassador

Remaining picks (each side will comprise a maximum of 18 players)

Meanwhile, here are some of the international stars available for the PSL 7 draft.

Platinum - David Miller (South Africa), Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Chris Gayle (West Indies), Chris Jordan (England), Colin Munro (New Zealand), Colin Ingram (South Africa), David Willey (England), Isuru Udana (Sri Lanka), Jason Roy (England), Marchant De Lange (South Africa), Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal), Shimron Hetmyer (West Indies), Tabraiz Shamsi (South Africa), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka), Tom Banton (England) and Tymal Mills (England).

Diamond - Afsar Zazai (Afghanistan), Ben Dunk (Australia), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Blessing Muzarabani (Zimbabwe), Fabian Allen (West Indies), Hamid Hassan (Afghanistan),  Hazratullah Zazai (Afghanistan), James Faulkner (Australia), Johnson Charles (West Indies), Kusal  Mendis (Sri Lanka), Lendl  Simmons (West Indies), Lewis Gregory (England), Mahmudullah Riyad (Bangladesh), Mitchell  McClenaghan (New Zealand), Najibullah Zadran (Afghanistan), Naveenul Haq (Afghanistan), Niroshan  Dickwella (Sri Lanka), Ollie  Robinson (England), Phil Salt (England), Qais Ahmad (Afghanistan), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan), Reece Topley (England), Samit Patel (England) and Sheldon Cottrell (West Indies).