LAHORE: A total of five foreign players’ replacements have been made in the HBL Pakistan Super League teams that will take the field for the upcoming sixth edition in Karachi and Lahore.

The teams made replacement picks for the players who have either become fully or partially unavailable for the Feb 20-March 22 tournament due to international cricket commitments.

Ex-South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, who represented Peshawar Zalmi in the 2020 playoffs last November, makes a return to the league as a partial replacement player in the Quetta Gladiators outfit in place of explosive West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle.

Australia leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed, who has represented Gladiators in the earlier PSL seasons, replaces New Zealand batsman Colin Munro in the Islamabad United squad.

Munro would be unavailable for the two-two winners due to the prevailing Covid-19 related managed isolation space challenges in New Zealand.

Islamabad United have also included USA paceman Ali Khan as a replacement for Reece Topley who has been included in England’s Twenty20 International squad on their ongoing tour of India.

Ireland opener Paul Stirling is the third replacement in the United squad in place of England seamer Chris Jordan who has also been included in the T20 squad for the India series, while batsman Tom-Kohler Cadmore, who represented Gladiators in the 2018 season, will replace his English compatriot Liam Livingstone in the Peshawar Zalmi squad with Livingstone also set to be part of England white-ball team in India.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2021