LAHORE: Former cha­m­­pions Quetta Gladi­ators will make the first pick in the player draft for the ninth edition of the Paki­stan Super League (PSL), the country’s cricket board announced on Monday.

Karachi Kings and two-time champions Islamabad United will have the second and third picks. The fourth and fifth picks will be done by Peshawar Zalmi and last season’s runners-up Multan Sultans respectively while winners of the past two editions Lahore Qalandars will finish the first round with the sixth pick.

“The selection order for the first round for the Platinum category is determined by the inverse order of the previous season’s standings,” the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a press release. “In order to make the Pick Order more equitable, a different franchise shall occupy the first pick in the first round of each category.”

Quetta Gladiators will begin the Platinum picks, Karachi Kings will have the first Diamond pick, Peshawar Zalmi will have the opening Gold pick, Multan Sultans will have the first pick in the Silver category, Islamabad United will pick the first player in Emerging category and Lahore Qalandars will have the first Supplementary pick.

Franchisees will now submit relegation requests for players before finalising retentions, said the PCB. “Following the floating of relegation requests, all teams have the chance to match the player’s base category,” the statement added. “If the player’s base category is not matched, they may be relegated to a category below their base category.”

The PSL player draft is tentatively scheduled to take place in mid-December, while the event is set to be held in February-March.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2023