PSL teams announce retained players ahead of draft

The draft, which takes place on December 6 in Lahore, will act as the precursor to a landmark competition – it will be the first time that the entire Pakistan Super League is held in the country when it gets underway in February

England batsman James Vince and West Indies limited-overs captain Kieron Pollard are among the players that have been retained by their Pakistan Super League franchises ahead of the draft for the tournament’s fifth edition.

The draft, which takes place on December 6 in Lahore, will act as the precursor to a landmark competition – it will be the first time that the entire PSL is held in Pakistan when it gets underway in February.

While more than 500 players will be available for purchase at the draft, each franchise has been able to retain up to eight members of its squad from 2019.

Teams could keep hold of up to three platinum, three diamond, thee gold, five silver and two emerging players among their eight.

Other than Vince, who will play for Multan Sultans, and Peshawar Zalmi’s Pollard, Shane Watson, Luke Ronchi, Darren Sammy and David Wiese were the only other overseas players retained.

All the players available and all you need to know ahead of the PSL draft

Quetta Gladiators: Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed (both platinum), Shane Watson (diamond, player mentor), Ahmed Shehzad (Diamond), Umar Akmal (gold, brand ambassador), Mohammad Hasnain (gold), Ahsan Ali, Naseem Shah (both silver)

Multan Sultans: Mohammad Irfan (platinum), Shahid Afridi (diamond, player mentor), James Vince (gold, brand ambassador), Junaid Khan (gold), Ali Shafiq, Shan Masood (both silver), Mohammad Ilyas (emerging)

Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (platinum), Faheem Ashraf (diamond, brand ambassador), Asif Ali (diamond), Luke Ronchi (gold, player mentor), Hussain Talat (gold), Amad Butt, Musa Khan, Rizwan Hussain (all silver)

Peshawar Zalmi: Hasan Ali, Kieron Pollard, Wahab Riaz (all platinum), Kamran Akmal (diamond, brand ambassador), Darren Sammy (gold, player mentor), Imam-ul-Haq (gold), Umar Amin (silver)

Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir (both platinum), Imad Wasim (diamond, brand ambassador), Iftikhar Ahmed (diamond), Aamir Yamin (gold), Usama Mir (silver), Umer Khan (emerging)

Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez (both platinum), Shaheen Shah Afridi (diamond, brand ambassador), David Wiese, Usman Shinwari (both diamond), Haris Rauf, Sohail Akhtar (both gold), Salman Butt (silver)

Subscribe to The Cricketer this Christmas and receive a £20 John Lewis voucher or Alastair Cook's autobiography. Claim your free gift here