Yusuf Pathan to be part of Joburg Buffaloes as Zim Afro T10 announce pre-draft player picks

Harare, 26th June 2023: Expected to be one of the most riveting tournaments of the year, the Zim Afro T10, organized by Zimbabwe Cricket, in association with T Ten Global Sports, will have the player draft on 2 July. Ahead of that, the five franchises involved have announced their pre-draft marquee players.

The five teams that will battle it out for top honours are Harare Hurricanes, Joburg Buffaloes, Durban Qalandars, Bulawayo Braves, and Cape Town Samp Army. The inaugural edition will commence on 20 July, with a grand finale scheduled for 29 July. All the games in the tournament will be played in Harare.

Squad Composition

Each squad needs to have a minimum of 16 players and at least 6 Zimbabwean players in the squad out of which one Zimbabwean player will be selected from the emerging player category from the nationwide talent hunt.

Ahead of the draft, the franchises can have a maximum of 4 top internationals as they’re pre-signed players. These four would be selected and announced before the start of the draft. The following are the list of the top internationals pre-signed by each team. 

Pre-Draft Signings

Harare Hurrican

Eoin Morgan, Evin Lewis, Shahnawaz Dahani, Robin Uthappa

Cape Town Samp Army

Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Karim Janat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Maheesh Theekshana

Durban Qalandars

Asif Ali, Sisanda Magala, George Linde, Hazratullah Zazai

Joburg Buffaloes

Yusuf Pathan, Mushfiqur Rehman, Tom Banton, Noor Ahmed 

Bulawayo Braves

Sikander Raza, Ashton Turner, Tymal Mills, Ben McDermott

Zimbabwe Cricket’s Managing Director Mr. Givemore Makoni said, “We are in the final stages ahead of the Zim Afro T10’s inaugural edition. This gives me immense joy, because to see this play out in reality has been a dream for all of the Zimbabwean cricket family, and it is a watershed moment in the history of the sport in the country. The fans, I am sure, are keenly waiting for the opening day.” 

Mr. Nawab Shaji Ul Mulk, T Ten Global Sports Founder, and Chairman, said, “To bring the T10 to Zimbabwe has been high on the agenda for us in the recent past, and we are on the home stretch ahead of the inaugural edition of the tournament, is a source of great satisfaction for me. This is a red-letter day in the history of the sport, there will be another landmark on the day of the player draft. We can’t wait to get things rolling and welcome the best of the best players to Harare.”