Bureau Report
Karachi: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz are among seven Pakistani players that have been drafted into Lanka Premier League teams. The tournament is set to begin on November 21.
The draft was held via video conference on Monday. Five teams were allowed to draft at least 16-20 local and foreign players.
Galle Gladiators, who is owned by the owners of the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) franchise Quetta Gladiators, picked Sarfaraz, Amir and Azam Khan in their team.
Former all-rounder Shahid Afridi was named as the team’s icon player last month. Former captain Wasim Akram is the mentor of the Galle Gladiators while former wicket-keeper Moin Khan will be the head coach.
Pacer Wahab Riaz has been picked by Kandy Tuskers while Malik, Usman Shinwari and Asif Ali are drafted by Jaffna stallions.
Meanwhile, international stars like Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Andre Russell, Carlos Braithwaite, Dawid Malan are also picked by the various franchises.
As each team is allowed a total of 20 players in their squad, it is expected that some more foreign stars will be added before November 1.
It must be noted that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) decided to introduced LPL in July 2020. Five teams Jaffna Stallions, Galle Gladiators, Dambulla Hawks, Colombo Kings and Kandy Tuskers will face each other in the inaugural competition.
