The Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine draft took place at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore.
The franchises completed their squads for the tournament slated to kick start in the last week of February next year but several notable players surprisingly went unpicked, raising eyebrows among cricket enthusiasts.
Among those left out were some prominent batters including Haider Ali, Ahmad Shahzad, Sharjeel Khan, and Umar Akmal. These players, known for their batting prowess, found themselves overlooked during the draft.
Additionally, the absence of emerging players like Danish Aziz, Mubasir Khan, Arshad Iqbal, and Muhammad Huraira also caught the attention of the cricket fraternity.
Moreover, the PSL draft's surprising turn extended beyond local players, as renowned international stars such as Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ashton Agar, Dasun Shanaka, Ben Duckett, Mujeeb ur Rahman, and Maheesh Theekshana remained unpicked.
Final squads of PSL teams:
Karachi Kings: Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Mohammad Nawaz, Tim Siefert, James Vince, Hasan Ali, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Tabraiz Shamis, Mohammad Amir Khan, Anwar Ali, Arafat Minhas, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Akhlaq, Muhammad Irfan Niazi, Sirajuddin, Saad Baig, and Jamie Overton.
Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Rassie Van der Dussen, Shaheen Afridi, Sahibzada Farhan, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Imran Jr, Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti, Dan Lawrence, Mirza Tahir Baig, Rashid Khan, Syed Faridoun Mahmood, Jahandad Khan, Shai Hope, and Kamran Ghulam.
Islamabad United: Jordan Cox, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan, Tymal Mills, Azam Khan, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Matthew Forde, Salman Ali Agha, Qasim Akram, Shahab Khan, Rumman Raees, Hunain Shah, Ubaid Shah, Shamyl Hussain, and Tom Curran.
Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam, Noor Ahmed, Rovman Powell, Asif Ali, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Naveen-ul-Haq, Aamer Jamal, Mohammad Haris, Salman Irshad, Arif Yaqoob, Umair Afridi, Daniel Mousley, Khurram Shahzad, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Zeeshan, Lungi Ngidi, and Mehran Mumtaz.
Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan, David Willey, Iftikhar Ahmed, Dawid Malan, Khushdil Shah, Usama Mir, Reeza Hendricks, Reece Topley, Abbas Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Ali, Usman Khan, Ihsanullah, Faisal Akram, Yasir Khan, Chris Jordan, and Aftab Ibrahim.
Quetta Gladiators: Sherfane Rutherford, Mohammad Amir, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Jason Roy, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Sajjad Ali Junior, Usman Qadir, Omair Bin Yousuf, Will Smeed, Khawaja Nafay, Adil Naz, Akeal Hosain, and Sohail Khan.
It must be noted that Geo News reported PCB is in favour of hosting these matches across four venues - Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
The teams will start gathering on February 12 where they take part in practice sessions and matches across four days.
The event will start from February 17 in Lahore with defending champions Lahore Qalandars facing Islamabad United in the opening match. Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings will play in Multan on February 18.
Meanwhile, the first game in Karachi is recommended between Karachi Kings and Islamabad United on February 28. Matches in Rawalpindi will start on March 1 with United playing Quetta Gladiators. Six double-headers will also be played during the event.
11 matches will take place in Karachi, nine each in Lahore and Rawalpindi, and five in Multan.
Three playoff matches and the final will take place in Karachi, with the final scheduled on March 17.