The fourth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) all set to get underway in UAE on Thursday, 14 February 2019.
This season will be played from 14 February 2019 to 17 March 2019. Like the previous editions, this time too matches will be played in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi during the UAE leg of the tournament while the final eight matches will be played in Lahore (3) and Karachi (5).
The six franchises in fray are Quetta Gladiators, Lahore Qalandars, Multan Sultans, Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi
The first game of this season will be played between Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars in Dubai after starry opening ceremony.
In the past the competition has been won by Islamabad United twice in 2016 and 2018 while Peshawar Zalami won in 2017.
The player drafting process for this edition was held in Islamabad on 20 November in 2018.
AB de Villiers, Darren Sammy, Shane Watson, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Colin Munro are few of the big names from international cricket, who will be seen in action this time around. Australia’s Steven Smith was also slated to play but an injury forced to stay out of the competition.
Here’s a look at the squads of the six franchisee of the fourth season of Pakistan Super League:
Lahore Qalandars
The biggest draw of the draft process was former South African cricketer AB de Villiers, who was picked up by the Lahore franchisee. They also picked up Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez and had retained the services of Fakhar Zaman in the Platinum category.
In the Diamond category also they roped in big name - Carlos Brathwaire, Corey Anderson.
In the Gold round, the Lahore team included Sandeep Lamichhane from Nepal. The 18-year-old leggie was a part of Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League last season.
Platinum: Fakhar Zaman, AB de Villiers, Mohammad Hafeez
Diamond: Yasir Shah, Carlos Brathwaire, Corey Anderson
Gold: Anton Devchich, Rahat Ali, Sandeep Lamichhane
Silver: Shaheen Afridi, Hassan Khan, Agha Salman, Sohail Akhtar, Haris Sohail
Emerging: Mohammad Imran, Umair Maqsood
Supplementary: Brendon Taylor, Gauhar Ali, Aizaz Cheema, Harris Rauf
Multan Sultans
The evergreen Shahid Afridi and banned Australian cricketer Steve Smith will be turning up for Multan Sultans for this edition of the league. Shoaib Malik, who was the captain of the side, was retained by the franchisee. The trio will be forming their Platinum category.
During the draft process, the team was referred as the Sixth Team as they didn’t have an owner at that point of time. For the draft the Pakistan Cricket Board had appointed a selection panel.
Platinum: Shoaib Malik, Steve Smith, Shahid Afridi
Diamond: Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Joe Denly
Gold: Shan Masood, Qais Ahmed, Nicholas Pooran
Silver: Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Umar Siddiq, Laurie Evans, Nauman Ali
Emerging: Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Ilyas
Supplementary: Dan Christian, Tom Moores, Ali Shafiq, Shakeel Ansar
Quetta Gladiators
After retaining the services of their captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Quetta Gladiators decided to pick Dwayne Bravo. The last spot in the Diamond category was filled by Sunil Narine, who they traded with Lahore Qalandars in place of Hassan Khan.
The Gladiators didn’t have any pick in the diamond category as they had retained all their three players, which included Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir.
Platinum: Sarfraz Ahmed, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo
Diamond: Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Nawaz
Gold: Rilee Rossouw, Umar Akmal, Fawad Ahmed
Silver: Anwar Ali, Saud Shakil, Mohammad Asghar, Danish Aziz, Ahsan Ali
Emerging: Ghulam Mudassar, Nasim Shah
Supplementary: Harry Gurney, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Azam Khan, Jalat Khan
Peshawar Zalmi
Out-of-form West Indian all-rounder Keiron Pollard completed the Platinum category of the Peshawar Zalmi. They had already retained pacers Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali in the same category.
In the Gold category, former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq were roped in by Peshawar Zalmi. Till Sunday, the 44-year-old, was going to be the mentor of the side but later decided to change his plans and remain an active player.
Kamran Akmal, who has scored the most number of runs in Pakistan Super League, was retained in the Diamond category along with former West Indies captain and all-rounder Darren Sammy.
Misbah had led the side to victory in the 2017 edition of the league.
Platinum: Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Keiron Pollard
Diamond: Darren Sammy, Kamran Akmal, Misbah ul Haq
Gold: Liam Dawson, Dawid Malan, Umer Amin
Silver: Umaid Asif, Khalid Usman, Wayne Madsen, Sohaib Maqsood, Jamal Anwar
Emerging: Sameen Gul, Nabi Gul
Supplementary: Waqar Salamkheil, Chris Jordan, Ibtisam Sheikh, Samiullah
Karachi Kings
Karachi Kings had no pick in the Platinum round of the draft since they had retained all three players in the category, which included two stars from the current Pakistan line-up Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam and New Zealand’s Colin Munro.
It was same story in the Diamond category for the Karachi franchisee. They again retained all their three players and hence didn’t have any pick.
Platinum: Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Colin Munro
Diamond: Usman Khan Shinwari, Colin Ingram, Imad Wasim
Gold: Mohammad Rizwan, Ravi Bopara, Sikandar Raza
Silver: Awais Zia, Aaron Summers, Usama Mir, Sohail Khan, Iftikhar Ahmad
Emerging: Ali Imran, Abrar Ahmed
Supplementary: Aamer Yamin, Ben Dunk, Liam Livingstone, Jaahid Ali
Islamabad United
The defending champions were not all active in the Platinum round of the draft process since they had retained services of Shadab Khan, Luke Ronchi, Faheem Ashraf, filling all three spots.
In the Diamond category, English cricketer Ian Bell joined the likes Mohammad Sami, Asif Ali, who were retained.
Continuing their English theme, the two-time champions picked up Samit Patel and Philip Salt in the Gold round.
Islamabad United won the league in the inaugural season in 2016 and again in 2018.
Platinum: Shadab Khan, Luke Ronchi, Faheem Ashraf
Diamond: Mohammad Sami, Asif Ali, Ian Bell
Gold: Rumman Raees, Samit Patel, Philip Salt
Silver: Hussain Talat, Sahibzada Farhan, Zafar Gohar, Waqas Maqsood, Cameron Delport
Emerging: Musa Khan, Nasir Nawaz
Supplementary: Wayne Parnell, Zahir Khan, Amad Butt, Rizwan Hussain
For this edition, the teams were allowed to retain up to 10 players irrespective of categories. Like last year, this time too the pick was in reverse order of the previous edition's standings.
So, Lahore Qalandars picked first in every round followed by The Sixth Team. Islamabad United were the last team to pick, since they won the last edition.
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