KARACHI: Fifth edition champions Karachi Kings on Tuesday released their 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.
A total of 16 players participated in various categories. Captain David Warner and Hasan Ali were listed in the Platinum category and Abbas Afridi and Shaun Masood were listed in the Diamond category.
The gold category features Khushdil Shah, Amir Jamal, Irfan Khan Niazi, Mir Hamza, Zahid Mahmood, Umair Bin Yousuf, Shahnawaz Dahani and Arafat Minhas. Mirza Mamoon Imtiaz in the silver category and Razaullah, Fawad Ali and Saad Paik in the emerging category.
From these options, the Kings retained Hasan Ali in the Platinum category, Abbas Afridi in the Diamond category, Khushtil Shah in the Gold category and Saath Paik in the Emerging category, while not retaining any player from the Silver category.
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.
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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