The draft ceremony for the inaugural edition of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) took place in Islamabad on Saturday. Big names like Herschelle Gibbs, Owais Shah, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Matt Prior, and Monty Panesar were picked in the overseas category.
The first edition of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) is scheduled to be played from August 6 to August 16 in Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium, with international cricketers such as Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan, and Shoaib Malik set to take part in the mega-event.
The tournament consists of six teams named Bagh Stallions, Mirpur Royals, Muzaffarabad Tigers, Overseas Warriors, Kotli Lions and Rawalakot Hawks.
Mirpur Royals will be in action under the captaincy of Shoaib Malik. They will have former England batsman Owais Shah in their ranks. Sharjeel Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Irfan are other big names in the line-up.
Bagh Stallions will be led by all-rounder Shadab Khan and will have the services of Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed.
Former Sri Lanka star cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan was snapped up by Muzaffarabad Tigers. Other important picks added Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Tanvir, and Sohaib Maqsood.
Overseas warriors captained by Imad Wasim will have the services of former South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs. They have also bagged hard-hitting batsmen Haider Ali and Azam Khan.
Former England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar was selected by Kotli Lions, led by opening batsmen Fakhar Zaman. Other vital picks for Kotli Lions involved Kamran Akmal, Asif Ali, and leg-spinner Usman Qadir.
Rawalakot Hawks will be led by icon player Shahid Afridi as they selected former England wicket-keeper batsman Matt Prior.
Mohammad Hasnain, Ahmed Shahzad, and Hussain Talat will also be part of Rawalakot Hawks.
Squads
Bagh Stallions: Shadab Khan (captain), Phil Mustard, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Umaid Asif, Rohail Nazir, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Imran Jr., Zeeshan Malik, Usman Mughal, Zeeshan Zameer, Furqan Shafiq, Sufyaan Muqeem, Amir Sohail, Mohammad Junaid
Overseas Warriors: Imad Wasim (captain), Herschelle Gibbs, Haider Ali, Azam Khan, Sohail Khan, Musa Khan, Haris Sohail, Qasim Akram, Hammad Azam, Abbas Afridi, Rashid Naseer, Usman Ali Khan, Naveed Ahmed, Raza-al-Mustafa, Waleed Ahmad
Kotli Lions: Fakhar Zaman (captain), Monty Panesar, Kamran Akmal, Asif Ali, Usman Qadir, Imran Khan, Akif Javed, Khalid Usman, Irfanullah Shah, Junaid Ali, Abdullah Syed, Syed Hashim Ali, Hasan Raza, Abdur Rehman, Yasir Jan
Rawalakot Hawks: Shahid Afridi (captain), Matt Prior, Mohammad Hasnain, Hussain Talat, Ahmed Shehzad, Danish Aziz, Waqas Maqsood, Zafar Gohar, Bismillah Khan, Imran Randhawa, Kashif Ali, Faisal Altaf, Zaman Khan, Shahid Ilyas, Samiullah Afridi
Mirpur Royals: Shoaib Malik (captain), Ovais Shah, Sharjeel Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Irfan, Salman Irshad, Amad Butt, Mukhtar Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Akhlaq, Shadab Majeed, Daniyal Allah Ditta, Mohammad Taha, Ibtisam-ul-Haq, Ammad Alam
Muzaffarabad Tigers: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Tilakaratne Dilshan, Sohail Tanvir, Sohaib Maqsood, Mohammad Wasim, Arshad Iqbal, Zeeshan Ashraf, Sohail Akhtar, Usama Mir, Anwar Ali, Arsalan Arif, Tahir Hussain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Usman Arshad, Taimoor Sultan
