Shahid Afridi has handed over the captaincy of Pakistan Super League (PSL) team Peshawar Zalmi to Darren Sammy, who has led West Indies to two World T20 titles. Younis Khan, who was unpicked by any team, was named as Peshawar’s batting mentor.
The announcements were made during the second PSL draft in Dubai on October 19, with the tournament scheduled to be played in the UAE in February and March 2017. Some of the other highlights at the event were:
- Lahore Qalandars traded Chris Gayle for Sohail Tanvir with Karachi Kings, where Gayle will join his West Indies team-mate Kieron Pollard
- Islamabad United traded Babar Azam to Karachi Kings and selected Dwayne Smith. Islamabad released Umar Siddiq and Asher Zaidi
- The first pick of the draft was former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who went to Lahore Qalandars. Lahore also traded Sohaib Maqsood to bring in Aamer Yamin, and released Mustafizur Rahman and Kevon Cooper.
- Brad Haddin will double-up in an assistant coaching role with Islamabad, where Dean Jones is the head coach.
- Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who have returned to domestic cricket in Pakistan after their bans for spot-fixing, were not picked. Mohammad Amir, however, was retained by Karachi and rose from silver to diamond category.
- Islamabad and Quetta Gladiators are the only teams likely to be captained by Pakistan players – Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed respectively.
Peshawar Zalmi
New players: Eoin Morgan (England), Haris Sohail, Alex Hales (England), Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan), Irfan Khan, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Sohaib Maqsood
Retained players: Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Darren Sammy (West Indies), Mohammad Hafeez, Chris Jordan (England), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Kamran Akmal, Junaid Khan, Imran Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Asghar
Released from 2016: Aamer Yamin, Abdur Rehman, Jim Allenby, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Musadiq Ahmed, Shahid Yousuf, Shaun Tait, Brad Hodge, Israrullah, Taj Wali
Lahore Qalandars
New players: Brendon McCullum (New Zealand), Sunil Narine (West Indies), Anton Devcich (New Zealand), Fakhar Zaman, Ghulam Mudassar, Usman Qadir, Saif Badar, Mohammad Irfan, Grant Elliott (New Zealand), Aamer Yamin, Shaun Tait (Australia), Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail Tanvir
Retained players: Umar Akmal, Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Rizwan, Cameron Delport (South Africa), Azhar Ali, Zafar Gohar
Released from 2016: Adnan Rasool, Kevon Cooper, Chris Gayle, Hammad Azam, Mustafizur Rahman, Sohaib Maqsood, Zia-ul-Haq, Zohaib Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Ehsan Adil, Imran Butt, Mukhtar Ahmed
Karachi Kings
New players: Kieron Pollard (West Indies), Ryan McLaren (South Africa), Kashif Bhatti, Abrar Ahmed, Khurram Manzoor, Abdul Ameer, Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka), Rahat Ali, Amad Alam, Babar Azam, Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Chris Gayle (West Indies)
Retained players: Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Amir, Ravi Bopara (England), Imad Wasim, Sohail Khan, Shahzaib Hassan, Saifullah Bangash, Usama Mir
Released from 2016: Bilawal Bhatti, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nauman Anwar, Shakib Al Hasan, Lendl Simmons, Sohail Tanvir, James Vince, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Fawad Alam
Islamabad United
New players: Ben Duckett (England), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Zohaib Khan
Retained players: Shane Watson (Australia), Andre Russell (West Indies), Samuel Badree (West Indies), Dwayne Smith (West Indies), Brad Haddin (Australia), Sam Billings (England), Misbah-ul-Haq, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Sami, Khalid Latif, Saeed Ajmal, Rumman Raees, Imran Khalid, Amad Butt, Hussain Talat
Released from 2016: Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Ashar Zaidi, Umar Siddiq, Umar Amin
Quetta Gladiators
New players: Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Tymal Mills (England), Rovman Powell (West Indies), David Willey (England), Hasan Khan, Noor Wali, Mir Hamza, Umar Amin
Retained players: Kevin Pietersen (England), Sarfraz Ahmed, Ahmed Shehzad, Luke Wright (England), Anwar Ali, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan), Mohammad Nawaz, Asad Shafiq, Saad Nasim, Bismillah Khan
Released from 2016: Grant Elliott, Nathan McCullum, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Bilal Asif, Elton Chigumbura, Jason Holder, Aizaz Cheema, Rameez Raja, Kumar Sangakkara