The sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is set to showcase Pakistan’s best talent once again as categories of the players who took part in the HBL PSL 2020 have now been finalised.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, ranked number two in the T20I rankings and player of the tournament in the last edition is in the platinum category. Imad Wasim and Muhammad Amir are two others from Karachi Kings to feature in the Platinium category.
For Islamabad Shadab Khan stays in the Platinum category as his teammate Faheem Ashraf moves down to the Diamond category for PSL 6. Peshawar Zalmi trio of Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz have been placed in the Platinum category while fast bowler Hasan Ali moves to the Diamond category.
Multan Sultans captain Shan Masood has moved up to the Diamond category with his impressive performances across HBL PSL 2020 and the National T20 Cup. Shan’s teammates Shahid Afridi and Sohail Tanvir have been placed in the Platinum category.
Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is in the Platinum category while fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain moves up from Gold to Diamond after ending as Quetta’s leading wicket-taker in the HBL PSL 2020 with 15 wickets.
Fakhar Zaman, who ended up as the second-highest scorer in the HBL PSL 2020 with 325 runs in 12 matches for Lahore Qalandars, stays in the Platinum category where he is joined by teammates Mohammad Hafeez and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
With the category renewal process and pick order finalised, the transfer and retention window is now officially open. As part of the category renewal process, franchise representatives were required to vote for every player. Teams were not allowed to vote for their own players but submit review requests at the end of this voting stage.
The list was then reviewed by Director – High Performance Nadeem Khan and GM Commercial Imran Ahmed Khan, who has been leading player acquisition for HBL PSL since 2017. Factors including national team performances, domestic performances and perceived T20 brand value were considered while finalising local players’ categories.
Director Commercial Babar Hamid: “The category renewals for the local players is a key step towards the delivery of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2021. The renewals were done on the basis of structured and meritorious criteria with an aim of providing fair and equal opportunity to all local players in what is one of the most followed and competitive cricket leagues in the world.
“I am sure that like the previous five seasons we will see top-quality performances from our local players and a lot of young players will get a wonderful opportunity of showcasing their talents and progressing to the international stage by their exposure to a platform like the HBL PSL.”
The category renewals did not apply to those players who were drafted in HBL PSL 2020 Playoffs in November. These players will be part of the overall player pool that will be available for selection at the HBL PSL Player Draft.
Under-23 players cannot be part of a squad as an Emerging player for more than two years unless they have played three or fewer matches in those two years.
Furthermore, teams can now send relegation requests for the players before finalising retentions. After a relegation request is floated, all other teams are given a chance to meet the player’s base category. If no team matches the player’s base category, the player may be relegated to a category below his base category.
