LAHORE: A replacement draft for the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2017 edition was finalized here on Monday to facilitate the inclusion of replacement foreign players after some of the players picked in the original draft dropped out of the competition due to injuries, unavailability, international commitments or bans.
Team managements of four out of the five franchises were present at the National Cricket Academy where the picks were made after consent of all participants, said a spokesman of Pakistan Cricket Board.
“Karachi Kings have their original quota of foreign players intact hence the franchise management wasn’t present at the Replacement Draft. Kings have given their consent to the picks made by the other franchises”, he added.
Islamabad United (IU) have decided to retain their West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell in their team though Russell awaits clearance after his doping case hearing, a verdict on his hearing is expected to arrive within the next fortnight. If banned, IU will be given the option to immediately replace Russell, he added.
“Lahore Qalandars had to make three changes to their squad, as have Peshawar Zalmi, who have withheld one pick to be made within the next 24-hours”, he asserted.
He said that last year’s runner-up Quetta Gladiators have made four changes while Islamabad United and Karachi Kings have their original picks in place. The latter picks from PZ will only be activated and eligible to play once the number of foreign players in the team goes under the minimum quota allowed by the PSL, which is five.
From Lahore Qalandars: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo (injured) replaced with England opener Jason Roy (available till February 20), Australia pacer Shaun Tait (injured) replaced with New South Wales off-break bowler Chris Green and New Zealand all-rounder Anton Devcich (injured) replaced with New Zealand veteran James Franklin.
From Peshawar Zalmi: England opener Alex Hales (injured) replaced with West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels and Bangladesh all-rounder Shakibal Hasan (unavailable) replaced with former Sri Lanka opener Tilakaratne Dilshan.
From Quetta Gladiators: Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi (unavailable) with South African batsman Rilee Rossouw, West Indies World T20 star Carlos Brathwaite (unavailable) with England all-rounder Moeen Ali and West Indies all-rounder Rovman Powell (unavailable) with Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera.
This would happen only after the Bangladesh players leave for their international team commitments.
