LAHORE
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday confirmed the category renewals of 89 local players for the upcoming season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), promoting five players, including Salman Ali Agha, to the Platinum category. A press release issued by the PCB said that the five players moved to the Platinum category were T20I captain Salman Ali Agha, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali and Abrar Ahmed.
“Going forward, each franchise may retain a maximum of four players, limited to one player per category,” the statement said. It added that, following the completion of retentions, the teams will participate in the first-ever PSL player auction on February 11 to complete their team rosters. The statement also said that the registration date for foreign players had been extended to February 3. According to the PCB, among the newly-designated Platinum players, only Sahibzada was previously in the Gold category, while the others made the jump from the Diamond category.
“Shadab Khan, Naseem Shah, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan, Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Amir managed to remain in the Platinum category after featuring in the HBL PSL X in the same category as well,” the statement added.
A total of 11 players are in the Diamond category, which includes three from Quetta Gladiators, three from Multan Sultans, two each from Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings, one from Peshawar Zalmi and none from Islamabad United, it said. Mohammad Salman Mirza, Sufyan Moqim and Mohammad Wasim Jr have jumped up from Gold to Diamond, it added. Among the 32 players assigned to the Gold category this year, four each are from Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars, eight from Karachi Kings, six from Peshawar Zalmi and five each from Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators.
The statement added that Multan Sultans have seven players in the Silver category, Lahore Qalandars have three, Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United have two each, and Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings have one each. Meanwhile, the Emerging category comprises of 14 players with three each listed in Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi; two each in Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans, and one from Lahore Qalandars, it said.
“Hunain Shah, Ubaid Shah, Mirza Mamoon Imtiaz, Mohammad Naeem and Mohammad Azab are the players who have made the move from Emerging to Silver for the upcoming season, while Hasan Nawaz went to Gold after featuring in the HBL PSL X in the Emerging category,” the PCB added. — DNA
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