PSL 2018 Players Draft: A look at the final squads

The third edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) was expected to be bigger and better and with the player draft now complete, it appears that the tournament has upped their game. Moreover, Karachi may well be on their way to host the finals, adding to the league’s grandeur. On November 12, Lahore Qalandars, Quetta Gladiators, Karachi Kings, Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi and Multan Sultans selected players.

Having already retained nine players each, the teams had to pick one Platinum, Diamond, and Gold, two Silver and two Emerging players each in order to complete their squads of 16. Chris Lynn and Imran Tahir remained the top picks in the players’ draft. While Lynn was snapped in by Lahore, debutants Multan Sultans grabbed Imran Tahir.

The purse provided to each team amounts to USD 1.2 million. Players in the Platinum category, which is the highest paid will earn between $140,000 and $200,000, Diamond category players have a minimum price of $70,000 whereas the Gold category players have a minimum price of $50,000. The minimum cap for Silver category players and Emerging Category players is set at $22,000 and $10,000 respectively.

After the completion of the draft, here is what the squads look like:

Multan Sultans: Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Kumar Sangakkara, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Irfan Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Imran Tahir, Darren Bravo, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Abbas, Nic Pooran, Abdullah Shafiq, Saif Badar.

Supplementary players: Hardus Viljoen, Umar Gul, Umar Sadique, Ross Whiteley

Peshawar Zalmi: Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Shakib al Hasan, Kamran Akmal, Darren Sammy, Hasan Ali, Haris Sohail, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Asghar, Dwayne Bravo, Tamim Iqbal, Hammad Azam, Saad Nasim, Taimoor Sultan, Sameen Gul, Ibtisam Sheikh.

Supplementary players: Andre Fletcher, Evin Lewis, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Arif

Karachi Kings: Shahid Afridi, Usman Khan, Usama Mir, Khurram Manzoor, Ravi Bopara, Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Colin Ingram, Mitchell Johnson, Luke Wright, David Wiese, Tabish Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jnr., Hasan Mohsin.

Supplementary players: Colin Munro, Eoin Morgan, Saifullah Bangash

Lahore Qalandars: Umar Akmal, Sunil Narine, Brendon McCullum, Fakhar Zaman, Yasir Shah, Cameron Delport, Aamer Yamin, Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail Khan, Chris Lynn, Mustafizur Rahman, Bilal Asif, Raza Hasan, Sohail Akhtar, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Ghulam Mudassar.

Supplementary players: Angelo Mathews, Mitchell McClenaghan, Gulraiz Sadar

Islamabad United: Mohammad Sami, Andre Russell, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Samuel Badree, Iftikhar Ahmed, Amad Butt, Asif Ali, JP Duminy, Luke Ronchi, Faheem Ashraf, Sam Billings, Zafar Gohar, Sahibzada Farhan, Hussain Talat

Supplementary players: Alex Hales, David Willey, Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Hasnain

Quetta Gladiators: Sarfraz Ahmed, Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Nawaz, Anwar Ali, Mahmudullah, Umar Amin, Mir Hamza, Asad Shafiq, Shane Watson, Carlos Brathwaite, Rahat Ali, Rameez Raja jnr, Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel, Hassan Khan

Supplementary players: Jason Roy, Rashid Khan, Azam Khan, Faraz Ahmed Khan