Gayle and Pietersen among Pakistan Super League stars comning to UAE

Dubai. The finest Twenty20 players in world cricket have been snapped by the five franchises that will play in the HBL Pakistan Super League to be held in the UAE in February. The player draft that took place at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore on Monday (today) saw the five franchises picking nine players each.

Lahore Qalandars got flamboyant West Indies opener Chris Gayle while Islamabad United bagged Australian all-rounder Shane Watson. Quetta Gladiators got England’s star batsman Kevin Pietersen.

With a large population of Pakistan fans living in UAE, the inaugural PSL with top players is expected to draw large crowds. The Pakistan Cricket Board have already booked all the top stadiums in the UAE for the event.

PSL had opted for a draft in place of an auction in order to ensure better competition with the result that all five teams are equally stocked with star power and skill. Peshawar Zalmi made the first pick and opted for Pakistan’s T20 captain Shahid Afridi. Pakistan’s in-form all-rounder Shoaib Malek went to Karachi Kings.

The event was attended by almost all top Pakistan cricket stars. Former legendary Pakistan players like Wasim Akram, Mushtaq Ahmad, Ijaz Ahmed, and Ramiz Raja were present and will be the coaches of different teams.

Teams have to pick a minimum squad of 16 members while they can opt for up to 20 players. The pick of players were divided into Platinum, Diamond and Gold categories.

Day 1 picks:

Brad Haddin, Mohammad Irfan, Samuel Badree (Diamond)

Ravi Bopara, Lendl Simmons, Imad Wasim (Diamond)

Mohammad Amir, Bilawal Bhatti, James Vince (Gold)

Sohaib Maqsood, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah (Diamond)

Kevon Cooper, Cameron Delport, Mustafizur Rehman (Gold)

Mohammad Hafeez, Chris Jordan, Kamran Akmal (Diamond)

James Allenby, Junaid Khan, Tamim Iqbal (Gold)

Luke Wright, Jason Holder, Anwar Ali (Diamond)

Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar, Elton Chigumbura (Gold)