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The eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will take place from February 9 to March 19 next year across four venues – Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi. Ahead of PSL 8, all six teams have released the list of their retained players.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam is set to part ways with the Karachi Kings and join Peshawar Zalmi. The Karachi-based franchise traded Azam to Zalmi for senior all-rounder Shoaib Malik and young batter Haider Ali.
“In one of the biggest trades of the tournament, 2017 champions Peshawar Zalmi snapped Babar in the Platinum category and the first pick in the supplementary round for Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik who move to Karachi Kings, the winners of the 2020 edition, in Platinum and Diamond categories, respectively, before the trade and retention window closed on Friday evening,” PCB said in a press release.
Babar, the tournament’s most successful batter with 2,413 runs in 68 matches, was initially a part of Islamabad United before he moved to Kings in November last year.
“Babar Azam, who was at Islamabad United before moving to Karachi Kings, is the only player in Platinum category for Peshawar Zalmi,” the release further added.
Meanwhile, the defending champions Lahore Qalandars have released left-handed batter Fakhar Zaman. Last year also Qalandars did not retain Zaman and then picked him in the draft. The same could be seen in the draft of PSL 8, which is slated to take place at the end of November.
Here’s the complete list of retained players-
Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (Platinum). Asif Ali (Brand Ambassador) and Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Diamond). Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf and Hasan Ali (Gold). Colin Munro and Paul Stirling (Silver).
Karachi Kings: Haider Ali (Platinum). Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir and Shoaib Malik (Diamond). Aamir Yamin, Mir Hamza and Sharjeel Khan (Silver). Qasim Akram (Emerging).
Lahore Qalandars: Rashid Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi (Platinum). David Wiese (Diamond). Abdullah Shafique (Gold). Harry Brook and Kamran Ghulam (Silver). Zaman Khan (Emerging).
Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (Platinum). Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw and Shan Masood (Diamond). Shahnawaz Dahani (Brand Ambassador) and Tim David (Gold). Abbas Afridi and Ihsanullah (Emerging).
Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam (Platinum). Sherfane Rutherford and Wahab Riaz (Diamond). Mohammad Haris (Gold). Aamir Jamal (Brand Ambassador), Salman Irshad and Tom-Kohler Cadmore (Silver).
Quetta Gladiators: Mohammad Nawaz (Platinum). Iftikhar Ahmed and Jason Roy (Diamond). Mohammad Hasnain and Sarfaraz Ahmed (Gold). Naveen ul Haq, Umar Akmal (Mentor) and Will Smeed (Silver).
