DUBAI: The final of the second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) will be staged in Lahore, chairman of the league, Najam Sethi, announced in Dubai on Wednesday.

“It is part of our move to take [international] cricket back to our country,” Sethi said during the launch of the draft at the Dome in Dubai Sporty City.

The league will be held in February-March in UAE next year but the final, unlike the first tournament last February, will take place at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Meanwhile, most of the five franchises retained a majority of players, but the introduction of few big names has forced the teams to make some last-minute changes.

The franchises of the PSL will chose the best players from a pool of 414 players, which include local as well as international players.

Sethi also assured that the tag of the second biggest league in the world will be maintained.

While, defending champions Islamabad United, runners-up Quetta Gladiators, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi will again compete for supremacy, Sethi also revealed that the 2018 edition of the event will have six teams.

“We will keep growing bigger every year. The PSL is going in the right direction,” he said.

A host of marquee cricketers like Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Shahid Afridi and Darren Sammy were present on the occasion.

The draft began with the Platinum Category and the first pick was for Lahore Qalandars, who went for Brendon McCullum, former New Zealand captain and one of the most aggressive batsmen in contemporary cricket.

The second pick went to Karachi Kings and they promptly picked explosive West Indies opener Chris Gayle. The giant West Indian had played for Lahore in the first edition.

Peshawar Zalmi retained their skipper Shahid Afridi while Quetta Gladiators retained England star Kevin Pietersen.

Islamabad United too kept their winning skipper Misbah-ul-Haq. The base pay for the platinum round was $140,000 (Dh514,920) going to a maximum of $230,000 (Dh845,940).

In the second round, Lahore went for West Indies ace spinner Sunil Narine while Karachi picked West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard. Peshawar bagged current England limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan, while Quetta retained their captain Sarfraz Ahmed. Islamabad retained Australia’s star all-rounder Shane Watson.

The third round saw Lahore retain Umar Akmal, highest scorer of the first edition, while Karachi retained their captain and all-rounder Shoaib Malik. Quetta reposed their faith in opener Ahmed Shehzad. Islamabad retained West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2016