The final of second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL2) will be played in Lahore, PSL Chairman Najam Sethi announced on Wednesday while addressing the drafts ceremony in Dubai.

“The second edition of the PSL, again with five teams in competition, will be more successful and the final will be held in Lahore,” Sethi said at the draft ceremony.

“International players know what we can do; most of them are ready to come to Pakistan and play.”

Sethi said top-level security will be put in place for the players.

“It will be a fly-in, fly out plan and the government has promised to give full security to the players. We are convinced that the final will happen in Lahore,” he said.

Drafts for the second season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL2) kicked off in Dubai Sports City, with the Lahore Qalandars choosing first.

After a successful first edition of the PSL, the drafts process marks the beginning of PSL2.

Round-1 Platinum

The Lahore Qalandars picked ex-New Zealand Captain Brendan McCullum in the first pick, as they had already announced him as captain of the team in place of Azhar Ali.

In the second bid, Karachi Kings picked Chris Gayle. The star all rounder was earlier part of Lahore Qalandars in the first edition of PSL.

Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators stuck with their earlier choices of platinum category players as they picked Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Kevin Pietersen respectively.

In other news, Shahid Afridi stepped down as captain of Peshawar Zalmi and handed over the baton to Darren Sammy.

Round-2 Platinum

In the second round of drafts for the platinum category, Lahore Qalandars picked Sunil Narine while Karachi Kings settled for Kieronn Pollard.

The man said to be behind England cricket's resurgence in limited overs cricket, Eoin Morgan, joined Peshawar Zalmi.

Runner up team in the first edition, Quetta Gladiators, stuck with their earlier choice as they picked T20 captain Sarfraz Ahmed to lead the team.

Shane Watson, who couldn't complete the first edition due to an injury, rejoined Islamabad United.

Round-3 Platinum

Umer Akmal rejoins Lahore Qalandars while Shoaib Malik gets picked by Karachi King. In the last round of platinum category Peshawar Zalmi picked Wahab Riaz, Quetta Gladiators chose Ahmed Shehzad while Islamabad United settled for Andre Russell.

Earlier, PSL Chairman Najam Sethi speaking to DawnNews had said that the drafts would be even more star-studded this year as compared to the previous year.

Although most team retained players from the first season of the PSL, the retention policy would be reviewed next year in order to give new players chance to be part of the drafts, he said.

Over four hundred foreign and national players will be divided into five categories. Platinum category includes 28 players, diamond category 33, gold category 74, silver category 255 and emerging category includes 24 players.

In Platinum category, 9 Pakistani and 19 foreign players have been included.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a profit of $2.6 million (260 million rupees) from the first edition.