KARACHI: Second edition champions Peshawar Zalmi on Tuesday released their list of retained players ahead of the historic Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11-man auction to be held on February 11.
For the first time in league history, the player selection process has undergone a major overhaul, replacing the traditional draft system with an auction-based model.
Earlier, franchises were allowed to retain eight players, a rule that was in effect for the first 10 seasons.
However, as per the revised rules for PSL 11, teams were only allowed to retain a total of four players from multiple divisions, making the decision challenging ahead of the auction.
A total of 14 players participated in various categories. The platinum category includes captain Babar Azam and Saim Ayub, while Sufiyan Mukeem is the only player shortlisted in the diamond category.
The gold category featured Mohammad Hariz, Mohammad Ali, Abdul Samad, Hussain Talat, Ahmed Daniel and Ihsanullah. Arif Yaqoob and Mehran Mumtaz were in the silver category and Mas Sadaq, Ali Raza and Abdullah Fazal in the rising category.
From these options, Zalmi retained Babar Azam in the Platinum category, Subian Mukeem in the Diamond, Abdul Samad in the Gold and Ali Raza in the Emerging category.
With the Pakistan Super League set to grow from six to eight teams, the upcoming edition will also mark a major expansion of the league. Hyderabad and Sialkot Stallions are new additions to the PSL family and will debut in the upcoming season.
After bidding 1.75 billion (approx. $6.25 million), the winning bidder was Mr. Fawad Sarwar took ownership of Hyderabad, thereby taking ownership of the new team.
Meanwhile, the franchise of Sialkot Stallionz was won by Mr Hamza Majeed who paid Rs. He topped the bidding for 1.85 billion, earning the right to lead the Stallions into their inaugural PSL campaign.
For non-readers, the 11th edition of the competition will begin on March 26 and run until May 3.
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