LAHORE: Eight new players were drafted across the six HBL Pakistan Super League squads for the upcoming edition during the Player Replacement Draft on Saturday.

While Karachi Kings made two full replacement picks, Peshawar Zalmi had one full and one partial replacement pick, Islamabad United one full replacement pick, Lahore Qalandars one full replacement pick with Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans both making one partial replacement pick apiece.

The order of the replacement draft was determined on a scale of unscheduled to scheduled unavailability.

The teams that had their players become unavailable because of unscheduled unavailability were given first picks followed by teams that had known unavailability at the time of HBL PSL V Player Draft.

Karachi Kings’ England seamer Liam Plunkett (Gold, Supplementary) has been ruled out of HBL PSL V due to an injury and he will be replaced by New Zealand fast bowler Mitch McC­lenaghan (Gold) for the full duration of the tournament. The left-armer has previously featured for Lahore Qalandars.

Their other replacement was also for the complete edition with ex-West Indies wicket-keeper Chadwick Walton (Silver), who returns to the HBL PSL after turning out for Islamabad United in the 2018 and 2019 editions. He replaces Dan Lawrence (Silver), a 22-year-old Essex batsman, who will be busy with the England Lions.

Peshawar Zalmi brought in England pacemab Lewis Gregory (Silver) for South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius (Silver) who will be on national duty.

Hard-hitting all-rounder Kieron Pollard (Platinum) will join the Zalmi side after West Indies’ series against Sri Lanka on March 7. Till then, his spot will be covered by his West Indian compatriot Carlos Brathwaite (Diamond) who played for Lahore Qalandars in last year’s edition.

For the same reason, Pollard’s international team-mate Fabian Allen (Silver) will join Multan Sultans in the middle of the tournament. Allen will be covered by Derbyshire all-rounder Wayne Madsen (Silver) until then.

Lahore Qalandars will have Dane Vilas (Gold), a 34-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman who has played six Tests and an ODI for South Africa, replacing Lendl Simmons for the full competition. Simmons will not feature in the competition due to personal reasons.

Two-time champions Islamabad United replaced Rassie van der Dussen (Gold, Supplementary), who will be on South Africa duty, with Dawid Malan (Silver). The left-handed England batsman had been with Peshawar Zalmi since the inaugural edition and has 377 runs at a strike rate of 112 in 16 HBL PSL matches.

Quetta Gladiators have drafted Zahid Mahmood (Silver), the Southern Punjab leg-spinner, until March 7 as a partial replacement for Keemo Paul (Silver, supplementary) who will be busy with international commitments.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2020