5 Notable omissions from PSL draft

Two days of hard work by the team owners and managers, advisors and the coaching staff, 98 players including 70 locals and 28 foreign nationals were picked for the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Each team could select a 16-man squad which should have a minimum and maximum of 5 foreigners and 11 local and national players. Added to the ‘Original 16’, each team was allowed to pick 4 additional players (3 locals and a foreigner) as a back-up to the ‘Original 16’ in case of any injury or a national call-up. Each team had a salary cap of $985,000 for the ‘Original 16’ and a total of $1.1 million to pick their 20. Bound by such strict regulations the team owners and management were expected to make some notable omissions. The following list contains the top 5 notable national players for Pakistan which the writer thinks deserved a PSL contract but was omitted: 1. Younis Khan Younis Khan. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Since the announcement of Pakistan Super League, Younis Khan has had his issues with the league and the people behind it. First up, he was not called on the logo launch/announcement ceremony of PSL. PCB says they did send an invite to him but to his hometown address. Younis claims he didn’t receive any. Then again, Younis Khan was not happy to not be named as one of the brand ambassadors for the league though he is not an active T20 player anymore. None of the five franchises showed any interest to pick Younis Khan on the first and final day of the draft process. The reason, as claimed by some inside stories, is that Younis himself had withdrew his name from the player’s draft and wanted to participate rather as coach or consultant. Whatever the true may be, such a marquee player not participating in the country’s first ever league of its own kind do raise some eyebrows. Official News: YK stated that he hasn't even agreed to be forwarded for the draft, so his name shouldn't have featured at all. — Kalim Khan (@Kallerz37) December 22, 2015 2. Azhar Mahmood Azhar Mahmood. (Photo Source: BCCI) The 40-year old international who last played for his country in 2007 has developed as an international T20 icon for all the T20 leagues around the world. Over 4000 runs and 250 wickets in this format with an added plus of almost 12 years of experience of this format, Azhar should have been a closely-contested pick in the PSL draft but neither of the franchises showed any interest in him. One major thing that played against him was that he has moved out of Pakistan and plays his entire cricket in the UK; therefore, he was to be considered as an overseas player if picked. Also, he is due to participate in the Masters League 2016 and would not have been available for the entire season. Otherwise, there was no reason to not pick him for the league. Never Mind. Ignored here maybe but not round the world. IA one day I hope to give back to PAK cricket. https://t.co/VWR3NF8fpP — Azhar Mahmood (@AzharMahmood11) December 22, 2015 3. Yasir Arafat (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images) 3rd highest wicket-taker of the format and still a Pakistan national, Yasir Arafat was another surprise omission from the PSL draft. He has been out of national consideration since the India-Pakistan game in the WT20 2012 but has been playing domestic cricket regularly both home and abroad. His T20 performances has earned him a place in every T20 league except the IPL (cause Pakistanis don’t play their anymore since the inaugural edition), a list which includes six different English counties. He also has the best bowling strike rate after Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal for any bowler in Twenty-20s with at least 150 wickets which makes him a completely surprising omission. 4. Nasir Jamshed (Photo Source:AFP) Out-of-international-action Nasir Jamshed was a very surprise omission from the PSL draft. The left-hand opening batsman was initially drafted in the Silver category and at $25,000 looked like a fair trade. The opener had been in limited-overs form in 2015 scoring 365 runs from 12 innings at an average of nearly 40 and a strike rate of 130+. He had just recently in September scored his maiden ton in the format and showed a lot of promise and grit in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League too. He, partnered with Ahmed Shehzad, has scored the 5th-most runs as partners in T20s. Many would argue his average fielding being the cause of his omission but he is still a better fielder than many selected and Nasir, the batsman, is still enough to change the course of the match when he is going strong. Disappointed & shocked not to be selected for @thePSLt20 especially after a recent t20 century but inshAllah will continue to work hard. — Nasir Jamshaid (@nasirjamshaid77) December 22, 2015 5. Haris Sohail (Photo Source: AFP) Another surprise omission from the PSL draft was Haris Sohail. Pakistan’s best find of the domestic circuit in recent years, Haris Sohail has scores like 70, 3, 41, 51, 44, 82, 89* and 52* in his last appearances for Pakistan and all scored at a strike rate of 90+. The lad averages almost 40 after 45 Twenty-20s and is a tidy left-arm spinner too. He was forced to go back home from the Sri Lanka tour in June due to an injury but recovered well in time for the T20 Domestic Cup in September this year. He later injured himself again before the start of the first-class season in Pakistan and hasn’t played a game since. He is recovering well and the doctors have predicted his full recovery until February 2016, the start of the PSL, but the franchise owners looked reluctant to pick a currently-injured player as he may or may not recover from his injury. A player of such caliber missing out on a PSL contract due to a fast-recovering injury is obnoxious. Surely, he should have been a supplementary pick at least. Special Mentions Awais Zia – hard hitting batsman from Rawalpindi, mini Boom Boom, has scored 1043 runs in 48 games at a strike of 134. Faisal Mubashir – though new to the T20 scene, Faisal was the top scorer in the recently concluded domestic T20 Cup in Pakistan with 5 half-centuries from 9 games; averages 62+ in T20s. Rahat Ali – hero of Australia’s world cup campaign (dropped Watson off Wahab in a crucial moment of the quarter-final), has 33 wickets in as many games. Imran Farhat – 1538 runs in 62 games at a strike rate of 140+, has 2 centuries and 8 half-centuries in the format. Khurram Manzoor – integral part of Karachi’s T20 team, has 1834 runs in 68 T20s with 2 hundreds and 13 half-centuries. Sami Aslam – young, exciting prospect, though new to professional cricket; product of the Under-19s cricket.

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5 Notable omissions from PSL draft

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