PSL 9 draft: Ace pacer Naseem Shah joins Islamabad United

In-demand pacer Naseem Shah on Saturday joined the Pakistan Super League's (PSL) franchise Islamabad United in a major swap deal for the tournament's season 9. 

Naseem, who was a part of Quetta Gladiators, was the topic of discussion among the cricket fraternity, and every PSL franchise was doing its best to get the 20-year-old on board after it was reported that he had decided to leave Quetta.

Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed and Muhammad Wasim Jr — who represented United — moved to Quetta Gladiators. 

There were strong rumours that Naseem might end up joining Multan Sultans, who recently got Iftikhar Ahmed in another swap deal, or Peshawar Zalmi, but Islamabad came out triumphant in the race to get the pacer’s signature.

There are still 11 days in the much-anticipated PSL 9 draft, but Islamabad has already gotten two of the best players of the shorter format.

Imad Wasim became part of the United family in a swap deal that saw pacer Hasan Ali joining Karachi Kings. The left-handed all-rounder was the Player of the Tournament in PSL 8 with 404 runs and nine wickets in 10 matches.

With some of the finest hard hitters like Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Pakistan’s Azam Khan, and Asif Ali and all-rounders like Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf, Islamabad are slowly becoming one of the favourites for the upcoming season.

Earlier, Iftikhar Ahmed joined Multan Sultans in a major swap deal with Rilee Rossouw.

Iftikhar, who represented Peshawar Zalmi, Karachi Kings and Islamabad United in the past, will wear the Sultans' jersey next year, making him the first player to play for five different teams in the league.

With the historic trade, Multan now also got the first platinum pick in the PSL 9 Draft which is scheduled to take place on December 13 in Lahore.

Rossouw rejoined Quetta, the team with which he won the PSL trophy in 2019 and was also the second top-scorer by scoring 39 runs in the final against Peshawar Zalmi.