LAHORE: Almost all key members of the Pakistan Twenty20 cricket squad have been retained by their respective franchises for the 2020 HBL Pakistan Super League prior to the Player Draft, which will take place on Friday (Dec 6).

Pakistan T20 captain and world’s current No.1 ranked batsman Babar Azam heads the retention list for Karachi Kings. He is joined by fast bowler Mohammad Amir, middle-order batsman Iftikhar Ahmed and all-rounder Imad Wasim.

Reigning champions Quetta Gladiators have kept faith in their captain Sarfraz Ahmed along with young speedster Mohammad Hasnain. The Gladiators have also withheld Shane Watson, who was declared player-of—the-tournament last year, besides Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Nawaz and Nasim Shah.

Islamabad United, who were champions in 2016 and 2018, have retained leg-spin all-rounder Shadab Khan, Asif Ali and Mohammad Musa Khan along with ex-New Zealand wicket-keeper/batsman Luke Ronchi, who the player-of-the-tournament award in 2018.

Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez and Shaheen Shah Afridi will once again be in Lahore Qalandars’ colours along with South Africa’s David Wiese, Haris Rauf, Sohail Akhtar and Salman Butt.

Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been retained by Multan Sultans, while their current Pakistan T20 player is Mohammad Irfan. The side has also retained England’s James Vince, opener Shan Masood and fast bowler Junaid Khan.

Peshawar Zalmi, the winners in 2017, have retained Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal and Umar Amin along with the West Indies duo of skipper Daren Sammy and Kieron Pollard.

Some of the most prominent names to be released are as under:

Alex Hales, Ian Bell, Mohammad Sami, Sahibzada Farhan (all Islamabad United); Colin Ingram, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravi Bopara (Karachi Kings); Brendan Taylor, Carlos Brathwaite, Haris Sohail, Sandeep Lamichhane, Yasir Shah (Lahore Qalandars); Dan Christian, Hammad Azam, Joe Denly, Nicholas Pooran, Shoaib Malik (Multan Sultans); Andre Fletcher, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Lendl Simmons, Tymal Mills (Peshawar Zalmi); Anwar Ali, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Rilee Rossouw and Sohail Tanvir (Quetta Gladiators).

Folowing is the complete list of players retained and released with each franchise eligible to retain up to eight players:

ISLAMABAD UNITED

Players retained: Shadab Khan (Platinum), Faheem Ashraf (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Asif Ali (Diamond), Luke Ronchi (Gold as Player Mentor), Hussain Talat (Gold), Amad Butt, Musa Khan, Rizwan Hussain (Silver).

Players released: Alex Hales, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton, Ian Bell, Mohammad Sami, Nasir Nawaz, Philip Salt, Rumman Raees, Sahibzada Farhan, Samit Patel, Waqas Maqsood, Wayne Parnell, Zafar Gohar, Zahir Khan.

KARACHI KINGS

Players retained: Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir (both Platinum), Imad Wasim (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Iftikhar Ahmed (Diamond), Aamir Yamin (Gold), Usama Mir (Silver), Umar Khan (Emerging).

Players released: Aaron Summers, Abrar Ahmed, Ali Imran, Awais Zia, Ben Dunk, Colin Ingram, Colin Munro, Jaahid Ali, Liam Livingstone, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravi Bopara, Sikandar Raza, Sohail Khan, Usman Khan Shinwari (transferred to Lahore Qalandars).

LAHORE QALANDARS

Players retained: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez (both Platinum), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), David Wiese, Usman Khan Shinwari (Diamond, Usman transferred from Karachi Kings), Haris Rauf, Sohail Akhtar (both Gold), Salman Butt (Silver).

Players released: A.B. de Villiers (not available for 2020 edition), Agha Salman, Aizaz Cheema, Anton Devcich, Asela Gunaratne, Brendan Taylor, Carlos Brathwaite, Corey Anderson (not available in 2020), Gohar Ali, Hardus Viljoen, Haris Sohail, Hassan Khan, Mohammad Imran, Rahat Ali, Riki Wessels, Ryan ten Doeschate (not available for 2020), Saad Ali, Sandeep Lamichhane, Umair Masood, Yasir Shah.

MULTAN SULTANS

Players retained: Mohammad Irfan (Platinum), Shahid Afridi (Diamond as Player Mentor), James Vince (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Junaid Khan (Gold), Ali Shafiq, Shan Masood (both Silver), Mohammad Ilyas (Emerging).

Players released: Andre Russell (not available for 2020), Chris Green, Dan Christian, Hammad Azam, Joe Denly, Johnson Charles, Laurie Evans, M. Irfan Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Junaid, Nicholas Pooran, Numan Ali, Qais Ahmed, Shakeel Ansar, Shoaib Malik, Steve Smith (not available for 2020), Tom Moores, Umar Siddique.

PESHAWAR ZALMI

Players retained: Hasan Ali, Kieron Pollard, Wahab Riaz (all Platinum), Kamran Akmal (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Daren Sammy (Gold as Player Mentor), Imam-ul-Haq (Gold), Umar Amin (Silver).

Players released: Andre Fletcher, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Ibtesam Sheikh, Jamal Anwar, Khalid Usman, Lendl Simmons, Liam Dawson, Misbah-ul-Haq (not available for 2020), Nabi Gul, Sameen Gul, Samiullah, Sohaib Maqsood, Tymal Mills, Umaid Asif, Waqar Salamkheil, Wayne Madsen.

QUETTA GLADIATORS

Players retained: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz (both Platinum), Shane Watson (Diamond as Player Mentor), Ahmed Shehzad (Diamond), Umar Akmal (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Mohammad Hasnain (Gold), Ahsan Ali, Nasim Shah (Silver).

Players released: Anwar Ali, Danish Aziz, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Fawad Ahmed, Ghulam Mudassar, Harry Gurney, Jalat Khan, Max Waller, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Azam Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Rilee Rossouw, Saud Shakeel, Sohail Tanvir.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2019