PSL teams release list of retained and released players ahead of next season

Ahead of the Player Draft this month, all the Pakistan Super League (PSL) teams have announced the list of the players they have retained and released. The much-awaited draft for the forthcoming edition of the PSL will take place on 6 December. The fifth edition of the tournament will take place at the start of next year. Quetta Gladiators are the defending champions.

All the big names from Pakistan cricket, meanwhile, have been retained by their respective teams. All the teams were allowed to retain a maximum of eight players. Pakistan’s T20I captain Babar Azam heads the retention list for Karachi Kings. The Karachi-based outfit has also decided to retain other big names like fast bowler Mohammad Amir, middle-order batsman Iftikhar Ahmed and allrounder Imad Wasim.

Quetta Gladiators have also kept faith in Sarfaraz Ahmed despite the ex-Pakistan captain enduring some tough time with the bat. Sarfaraz was recently sacked as Pakistan captain and was also dropped from the team for the ongoing tour of Australia. The Gladiators have also retained Shane Watson, Mohammad Hasnain, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah.

Two-time winners Islamabad United have retained leg-spinner Shadab Khan, Asif Ali and Musa Khan along with New Zealand’s Luke Ronchi. On the other hand, the likes of Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez and Shaheen Afridi will continue to play for Lahore Qalandars along with South Africa’s David Wiese, Haris Rauf, Sohail Akhtar and Salman Butt.

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has been retained by Multan Sultans. The side has also retained Mohammad Irfan, James Vince, Shan Masood and Junaid Khan. One-time winner Peshawar Zalmi have retained Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal and Umar Amin along with the Windies duo of Daren Sammy and Kieron Pollard.

Here is the complete list of players retained and released by each team ahead of PSL:

Islamabad United

Players retained – Shadab Khan (Platinum), Faheem Ashraf (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Asif Ali (Diamond), Luke Ronchi (Gold as Player Mentor), Hussain Talat (Gold), Amad Butt, Musa Khan and Rizwan Hussain (Silver)

Players released – Alex Hales, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton, Ian Bell, Mohammad Sami, Nasir Nawaz, Philip Salt, Rumman Raees, Sahibzada Farhan, Samit Patel, Waqas Maqsood, Wayne Parnell, Zafar Gohar and Zahir Khan

Karachi Kings

Players retained – Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir (both Platinum), Imad Wasim (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Iftikhar Ahmed (Diamond), Aamir Yamin (Gold), Usama Mir (Silver) and Umer Khan (Emerging)

Players released – Aaron Summers, Abrar Ahmed, Ali Imran, Awais Zia, Ben Dunk, Colin Ingram, Colin Munro, Jaahid Ali, Liam Livingstone, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravi Bopara, Sikandar Raza, Sohail Khan and Usman Shinwari (transferred to Lahore Qalandars)

Lahore Qalandars

Players retained – Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez (both Platinum), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), David Wiese, Usman Shinwari (Diamond, Usman transferred from Karachi Kings), Haris Rauf, Sohail Akhtar (both Gold), Salman Butt (Silver).

Players released – AB de Villiers (not available in 2020), Agha Salman, Aizaz Cheema, Anton Devcich, Asela Gunaratne, Brendan Taylor, Carlos Brathwaite, Corey Anderson (not available in 2020), Gohar Ali, Hardus Viljoen, Haris Sohail, Hassan Khan, Mohammad Imran, Rahat Ali, Riki Wessels, Ryan ten Doeschate (not available in 2020), Saad Ali, Sandeep Lamichhane, Umair Masood, Yasir Shah

Multan Sultans

Players retained – Mohammad Irfan (Platinum), Shahid Afridi (Diamond as Player Mentor), James Vince (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Junaid Khan (Gold), Ali Shafiq, Shan Masood (both Silver) and Mohammad Ilyas (Emerging)

Players released – Andre Russell (not available in 2020), Chris Green, Dan Christian, Hammad Azam, Joe Denly, Johnson Charles, Laurie Evans, M. Irfan Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Junaid, Nicholas Pooran, Numan Ali, Qais Ahmed, Shakeel Ansar, Shoaib Malik, Steve Smith (not available in 2020), Tom Moores and Umar Siddiq

Peshawar Zalmi

Players retained – Hasan Ali, Kieron Pollard, Wahab Riaz (all Platinum), Kamran Akmal (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Daren Sammy (Gold as Player Mentor), Imam-ul-Haq (Gold) and Umar Amin (Silver)

Players released – Andre Fletcher, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Ibtesam Sheikh, Jamal Anwar, Khalid Usman, Lendl Simmons, Liam Dawson, Misbah-ul-Haq (not available in 2020), Nabi Gul, Sameen Gul, Samiullah, Sohaib Maqsood, Tymal Mills, Umaid Asif, Waqar Salamkheil and Wayne Madsen

Quetta Gladiators

Players retained – Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed (both Platinum), Shane Watson (Diamond as Player Mentor), Ahmed Shehzad (Diamond), Umar Akmal (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Mohammad Hasnain (Gold), Ahsan Ali and Naseem Shah (Silver)

Players released – Anwar Ali, Danish Aziz, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Fawad Ahmed, Ghulam Mudassar, Harry Gurney, Jalat Khan, Max Waller, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Azam Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Rilee Rossouw, Saud Shakil and Sohail Tanvir