KARACHI: Australia’s tough batsman Jake Fraser-McCurg has been selected by Rawalpindi for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 scheduled to be held from March 26 to May 3.
Having represented Australia in eight T20Is, Fraser-McQuurg has been one of the most sought-after batsmen in the shortest format, particularly in franchise leagues such as the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), Major League Cricket (MLC) and Big Bash League (PBL).
The 23-year-old has played 98 T20Is and has amassed 1852 runs at a whopping strike rate of 149.11 with the help of 11 fifties.
As a result, Fraser-McQuurg made it to the list of batsmen with the highest base price of Rs 42 million at the first player auction for the marquee league held at the Expo Center in Lahore on Wednesday.
However, the right-handed batsman failed to attract a buyer in both the main and accelerated rounds and thus went unsold.
Meanwhile, the marquee league’s rebranded Rawalpindi franchise, which was taken over by new owners after a historic bid earlier this month, has signed Jake Fraser-McQuirk outright.
It is worth noting that the amount of Rawalpindi’s contract for the Australia international is yet to be disclosed.
After the landmark 10th edition of the marquee league, following an independent evaluation process of the existing six teams, the franchise was abandoned for the disenfranchised.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) initially announced that it would take control of the side, but later decided to put it up for auction in view of the overwhelming response to the sale process of two new teams, Sialkot Stallions and Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen.
The cricket board set up an independent panel to oversee the franchise’s retention and direct signings, which later released all their players and announced a player auction with a full purse of $1.6 million.
But ahead of the player auction, the Rawalpindi side announced that they have retained Mohammad Rizwan, Zaman Khan, Yasir Khan and Sam Billings, but could not disclose their direct contracts.
Byzan Lakhani
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