LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) renewed the local player categories for the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), scheduled to commence on February 9, 2023.
Following renewal, the categories of some players have been upgraded which include Multan Sultans’ Shahnawaz Dahani and Shan Masood (both Gold to Diamond), Islamabad United’s Mohammad Wasim Junior (Gold to Diamond), Peshawar Zalmi’s Haider Ali and Mohammad Haris (Diamond to Platinum and Silver to Gold respectively), Quetta Gladiators’ Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah (Diamond to Platinum and Gold to Diamond respectively).
Whereas, United’s Hasan Ali and Zalmi’s Wahab Riaz, were both demoted from Platinum to Diamond category, while Gladiators’ Sarfaraz Ahmed was demoted from Platinum to Gold, Sultans’ Sohaib Maqsood and United’s Faheem Ashraf both demoted from Diamond to Gold.
The PCB has also opened the registration window for foreign players.
“The teams will now put forward relegation requests for the players before finalising retentions. After relegation requests are floated, all teams are given an opportunity to meet the player’s base category. If the player’s base category is not matched, the player may be relegated to a category below his base category,” the PCB said in a press release.
“U23 players cannot be part of a squad as an Emerging player for more than two years unless they have played nine or less matches in those two years.
“The player lists have been shared with the six franchises for the tournament to be played across four venues from 9 February to 19 March 2023.”
Teams’ squads after categories renewal
Karachi Kings
Platinum: Babar Azam and Imad Wasim
Diamond: Mohammad Amir
Gold: Amir Yamin, Mir Hamza, Sahibzada Farhan, Sharjeel Khan, Usman Shinwari
Silver: Mohammad Ilyas, Muhammad Imran Jr, Rohail Nazir, Umaid Asif
Emerging: Faisal Akram, Mohammad Taha, Qasim Akram and Talha Ahsan
Islamabad United
Platinum: Shadab Khan and Asif Ali
Diamond: Hasan Ali and Mohammad Wasim Jr
Gold: Azam Khan, Danish Aziz, Faheem Ashraf, Musa Khan, Waqas Maqsood, Zafar Gohar, Zahid Mehmood
Silver: Athar Mahmood, Mohammad Akhlaq, Nasir Nawaz
Emerging: Mohammad Huraira, Mubasir Khan and Zeeshan Zamir
Quetta Gladiators
Platinum: Mohammad Nawaz
Diamond: Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah
Gold: Ahsan Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal
Silver: Ali Imran, Ghulam Mudassar, Hassan Khan, Khurram Shahzad
Emerging: Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ashar Qureshi and Mohammad Shahzad
Peshawar Zalmi
Platinum: Haider Ali
Diamond: Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz
Gold: Aamer Jamal, Amad Butt, Arshad Iqbal, Hussain Talat, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Haris, Sohail Khan, Usman Qadir
Silver: Ali Majid, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Amir Khan, Mohammad Umar, Salman Irshad, Sameen Gul, Tayyab Tahir
Emerging: Arish Ali Khan, Sirajuddin and Yasir Khan
Multan Sultans
Platinum: Mohammad Rizwan
Diamond: Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood
Gold: Anwar Ali, Imran Khan Snr, Rumman Raees, Sohaib Maqsood
Silver: Rizwan Hussain
Emerging: Aamer Azmat, Abbas Afridi and Ihsanullah
Lahore Qalandars
Platinum: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
Diamond: Mohammad Hafeez
Gold: Abdullah Shafique
Silver: Ahmad Daniyal Latif, Akif Javed, Imran Randhawa, Kamran Ghulam, Maaz Khan, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf
Emerging: Syed Faridoun Mahmood and Zaman Khan
