Bureau Report
Karachi: Pakistan captain Babar Azam, vice-captain Shadab Khan and pacer Shaheen Shah have been retained in the platinum list for Pakistan Super League (PSL) season six as categories of the players who took part in the last season have now been finalized. With the category renewal process and pick order finalized, the transfer and retention window is now officially open.
As part of the category renewal process, franchise representatives were required to vote for every player. Teams were not allowed to vote for their own players but submit review requests at the end of this voting stage.
The 26-year-old Babar Azam, who was the Player of the Tournament in the 2020 edition after scoring 473 runs in 12 matches, is joined by Karachi Kings’ captain Imad Wasim and pacer Mohammad Amir in the Platinum category.
Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan continues in the Platinum category as his teammate Faheem Ashraf moves down to the Diamond category for the HBL PSL 2021.
Peshawar Zalmi trio of Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz have been placed in the Platinum category while fast bowler Hasan Ali moves to the Diamond category.
Multan Sultans captain Shan Masood has moved up to the Diamond category with his impressive performances in PSL 2020 and the National T20 Cup. Boom Boom Shahid Afridi and Sohail Tanvir have been placed in the Platinum category.
Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is in the Platinum category while fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain moves up from Gold to Diamond after ending as Quetta’s leading wicket-taker in the PSL 2020 with 15 wickets.
Lahore Qalandars have retained Fakhar Zaman in the Platinum category, their highest run-getter in PSL 5 with 325 runs in 12 matches. He is joined by teammates Mohammad Hafeez and Shaheen Shah Afridi, the highest wicket-taker of PSL 2020.
Meanwhile, Qalandars’ pacer Haris Rauf has moved up from Gold to Diamond. He is the leading wicket-taker in 2020 with 57 scalps at 19.57.
Director High-Performance Center Nadeem Khan and GM Commercial Imran Ahmed Khan reviewed the list.
Factors including national team performances, domestic performances and perceived T20 brand value were considered while finalizing local players’ categories.
The category renewals did not apply to those players who were drafted in PSL 2020 Playoffs in November. These players will be part of the overall player pool that will be available for selection at the PSL Player Draft.
Players who have represented Pakistan in any format have been assigned a base category of Gold.
U23 players cannot be part of a squad as an Emerging player for more than two years unless they have played three or less matches in those two years. Teams can now send relegation requests for the players before finalizing retentions. After a relegation request is floated, all other teams are given a chance to meet the player’s base category. If no team matches the player’s base category, the player may be relegated to a category below his base category.
