Unpicked gems, Hasaranga’s availability: Key takeaways from PSL 9 Draft

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The HBL Pakistan Super League Player Draft 2024 took place at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore on Wednesday as franchises finalised their squads for the ninth edition of the tournament.

Quetta Gladiators' Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, retained in the Diamond Category, is unavailable for the entire tournament but committed to the first five matches of the ninth season. Akeal Hosein will replace him for the remaining games. 

Wanindu Hasaranga has given his availability for first five PSL matches.
We will have Akeal Hosein as cover for Hasaranga’s absence 😊 https://t.co/z4WsD1rFVn

— Nabeel Hashmi (@iNabeelHashmi) December 13, 2023

Surprisingly, notable players like Haider Ali, Ahmad Shahzad, Sharjeel Khan, and Umar Akmal went unpicked, alongside talents like Danish Aziz, Mubasir Khan, Arshad Iqbal, and Muhammad Huraira.

The draft also saw international stars Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ashton Agar, Dasun Shanaka, Ben Duckett, Mujeeb ur Rahman, and Maheesh Theekshana left unpicked.

Islamabad United added pacers Hunain Shah and Ubaid Shah to their squad in the PSL season nine draft, completing the trio of Shah brothers. The two-time champions had previously traded Naseem Shah from Quetta Gladiators before the draft.

The 20-year-old Hunain has been active in domestic cricket, while Ubaid is currently impressing with his bowling in the ongoing U19 Asia Cup. This marks the first time that three brothers will be on the same side in PSL, creating anticipation about whether they will play together.

On the other hand, Mohammad Amir also took to his X account and was happy that he was picked by the Quetta Gladiators, after being released by Karachi Kings.
“And He honors whom He wills, and He disgraces whom He wills,” Amir shared a verse from the Qur'an.

Alhumdulilah. pic.twitter.com/pIPszsWv2S

— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) December 13, 2023

PSL SQUADS
Karachi Kings: Shan Masood (c), Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Mohammad Nawaz, Tim Seifert, James Vince, Hasan Ali, Shoaib Malik, Tabraiz Shamsi, Mohammad Amir Khan, Anwar Ali, Arafat Minhas, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Akhlaq, Muhammad Irfan Niazi, Sirajuddin, Saad Baig, and Jamie Overton

Lahore Qalandars: Shaheen Afridi (c), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie Van der Dussen, Sahibzada Farhan, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Imran Jr, Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti, Dan Lawrence, Mirza Tahir Baig, Rashid Khan, Syed Faridoun Mahmood, Jahandad Khan, Shai Hope, and Kamran Ghulam

Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (c), Jordan Cox, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan, Tymal Mills, Azam Khan, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Matthew Forde, Salman Ali Agha, Qasim Akram, Rumman Raees, Hunain Shah, Ubaid Shah, Shamyl Hussain, and Tom Curran

Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam (c), Noor Ahmed, Rovman Powell, Asif Ali, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Naveen-ul-Haq, Aamer Jamal, Mohammad Haris, Salman Irshad, Arif Yaqoob, Umair Afridi, Daniel Mousley, Khurram Shahzad, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Zeeshan, Lungi Ngidi, and Mehran Mumtaz

Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c), David Willey, Iftikhar Ahmed, Dawid Malan, Khushdil Shah, Usama Mir, Reeza Hendricks, Reece Topley, Abbas Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Ali, Usman Khan, Ihsanullah, Faisal Akram, Yasir Khan, Chris Jordan, and Aftab Ibrahim

Quetta Gladiators: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Mohammad Amir, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Jason Roy, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Sajjad Ali Junior, Usman Qadir, Omair Bin Yousuf, Will Smeed, Khawaja Nafay, Adil Naz, Akeal Hosain, and Sohail Khan