LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced a list of 308 players who will be divided into five different categories to constitute five teams for the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) scheduled to be held from Feb 4 to 23 next year in the UAE.

According to a press release issued by the PCB: “A total of 308 top foreign and local cricketers will be available at the Pakistan Super League Draft scheduled to be held on Dec 21 and 22.

“Having successfully finalised the sale of commercial rights for franchises, broadcast, and title sponsorship, the PSL is now entering the phase that many fans have long been waiting for. At the player draft event, the five franchise owners will gather to select their playing squads,” said the PCB statement.

It deserves notice that the PSL players’ list includes 137 Pakistan and 171 foreign cricketers with the players being divided into five categories namely Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver and Emerging.

“By opting for a draft system in place of a player auction, the PSL will ensure a level-playing field as each team will have to choose a certain number of players from each category. As a result of this, each team will spend an equal amount on drafting players. Top players will, therefore, play for all five teams,” added the PCB statement.

Top names such as Shane Watson, Wahab Riaz, Kevin Pietersen, Shahid Afridi, Chris Gayle, James Anderson, Shoaib Malik, Darren Sammy, Grant Elliott, Lasith Malinga, Andre Russell, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Marlon Samuels, Angelo Mathews and Shakib Al Hasan have made themselves available for the Draft.

Revealing more details about selection of players for the high-profile league, the official statement said: “Each team will be required to pick three players per category from each of the top three categories—Platinum, Diamond, Gold. While drafting two emerging players will be mandatory, a team will be able to pick up to five players from the Silver category in order to complete the squad.”

“Each team will have a minimum of four foreign players in the side. Some leading players who have signed up for other commitments will be available only for a portion of the PSL,” it stated.

All five franchises will be finalising their coaching panels in the next few days.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2015