LAHORE: Over 245 players from 32 countries have registered for HBL PSL player draft 2022 which will take place here at the National High Performance Centre (NHPC) on Sunday.

While Karachi Kings retained Pakistan captain and World No.1 T20 batter Babar Azam and top-ranked all-rounder Mohammad Nabi, Sarfaraz Ahmed remains with Quetta Gladiators.

“The retention, trade and release window of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2022 closed on Friday afternoon with Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi consuming their full allocation of eight retentions, while Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators retaining seven players each,” the PCB said in a statement on Friday.

“Action will now shift to the National High Performance Centre on Sunday, Dec 12 at 1500 PST when the HBL PSL Player Draft 2022 will take place for which more than 425 players from 32 countries have registered,” the statement added.

In the Platinum Category, Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick, followed by Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings, Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators.

“Each franchise can comprise up to 18 players, including three each in Platinum, Diamond and Gold categories, five Silver, two Emerging and up to two Supplementary categories.

“For the 2022 event, the PCB has introduced the Right to Match Card. This means each side will have one such card they can utilise during the draft to pick a player originally released from their roster,” it added.

According to the PCB statement, in their seven retentions defending champions Multan Sultans have kept faith in Mohammad Rizwan and Rilee Rossouw (both Platinum), Imran Tahir (Diamond, Mentor), Sohaib Maqsood (Diamond), Khushdil Shah (Gold, Brand Ambassador), Shahnawaz Dahani and Shan Masood (both Gold). They are expected to be led by Mohammad Rizwan, whose stellar performances have earned him a promotion to the Platinum category.

World’s No.1 ranked T20I batter Babar Azam (Platinum) and all-rounder Mohammad Nabi (Diamond) will once again be in action for Karachi Kings, who have decided to keep Imad Wasim (Platinum), Mohammad Amir, (Diamond), Joe Clarke (Gold, Brand Ambassador), Aamir Yamin and Sharjeel Khan (both Gold) and Mohammad Ilyas (Silver).

Islamabad United, following successful trade of Azam Khan (Gold), have retained Asif Ali (promoted to Platinum), Hasan Ali (Platinum), Faheem Ashraf (Diamond), Shadab Khan (Diamond, Brand Ambassador), Alex Hales (Gold, Team Mentor), Azam Khan and Mohammad Wasim Jr (both Gold) and Paul Stirling (Silver).

Afghanistan’s wrist-spinner Rashid Khan has been retained by Lahore Qalandars in the Platinum category, along with Shaheen Shah Afridi (Platinum), Haris Rauf (Diamond, Brand Ambassador), David Wiese and Mohammad Hafeez (both Diamond), Ahmed Daniyal, Sohail Akhtar and Zeeshan Ashraf (all Silver).

Liam Livingstone along with Wahab Riaz (both Platinum), Haider Ali, Sherfane Rutherford, Shoaib Malik (all Diamond), Saqib Mahmood (Gold, Brand Ambassador) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Silver) will be in yellow for Peshawar Zalmi. Hussain Talat has been traded from Islamabad United, completing Zalmi’s retention of eight players. In return for bringing Hussain Talat in Gold, Zalmi have given their Silver second round pick to United.

Quetta Gladiators have retained four players from the 2021 tournament. They are: Sarfaraz Ahmed (Platinum), Mohammad Nawaz (Diamond), Mohammad Hasnain (Gold, Brand Ambassador) and Naseem Shah (Gold).

In addition, the Gladiators had earlier brought in Shahid Afridi (Gold, Mentor), James Vince (Platinum) and Iftikhar Ahmed (Diamond) to their roster during the transfer and retention window.

International stars available in the HBL PSL player draft 2022:

PLATINUM: David Miller (South Africa), Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Chris Gayle (West Indies), Chris Jordan (England), Colin Munro (New Zealand), Colin Ingram (South Africa), David Willey (England), Isuru Udana (Sri Lanka), Jason Roy (England), Marchant De Lange (South Africa), Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal), Shimron Hetmyer (West Indies), Tabraiz Shamsi (South Africa), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka), Tom Banton (England), Tymal Mills (England)

DIAMOND: Afsar Zazai (Afghanistan), Ben Dunk (Australia), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Blessing Muzarabani (Zimbabwe), Fabian Allen (West Indies), Hamid Hassan (Afghanistan), Hazratullah Zazai (Afghanistan), James Faulkner (Australia), Joe Clarke (England), Johnson Charles (West Indies), Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka), Lendl Simmons (West Indies), Lewis Gregory (England), Mahmudullah Riyad (Bangladesh), Mitchell McClenaghan (New Zealand), Najibullah Zadran (Afghanistan), Naveenul Haq (Afghanistan), Niroshan Dickwella (Sri Lanka), Ollie Robinson (England), Phil Salt (England), Qais Ahmad (Afghanistan), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan), Reece Topley (England), Samit Patel (England), Sheldon Cottrell (West Indies).

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2021