Butt, Asif named in players’ draft for PSL

KARACHI: The second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is set to see the spot-fixing duo of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif in action next year.

Both the players were included in the PSL draft list and are likely to be a part of PSL 2 scheduled for next February in the UAE.

Butt, who has been doing well in domestic events, has been drafted in the Gold category while Mohammad Asif has been included in the Silver category.

Also picked in the player draft is former Pakistan captain Younis Khan. The seasoned batsman, who controversially missed out on the inaugural edition of the T20 league earlier this year, has been included in the elite Platinum category.

Meanwhile, reports said on Friday that iconic Sri Lankan player Kumar Sangakkara has joined PSL franchise Karachi Kings as a player and mentor.

Sangakkara was part of Quetta Gladiators’ squad last year, but was released by the franchise for the second edition of the fast-growing T20 league.

On Friday, the PSL management released a list of over 430 players, including 229 foreigners, ahead of the players’ draft for PSL 2 which will take place on October 19.

England have the lion’s share, with a total of 70 players making themselves available.

A total of 52 from West Indies, 27 from Sri Lanka, 15 from Australia, 15 from South Africa, 10 from Bangladesh, 9 from Afghanistan, 7 from New Zealand and 24 from other cricketing countries are included in the list of players for the PSL 2.

Among the prominent players in the Platinum category are Shane Watson, Shakib Al Hassan, Alex Hales, Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad, Brendon McCullum, Kumar Sangakkara, Lasith Malinga, Mahela Jayawerdene, Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels and Sunil Narine.

The Pakistani players in the Platinumc category are Ahmed Shahzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz and Younis Khan.

The foreign players in Diamond category include Benjiman Hilfenhaus, Brad Haddin, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Jake Ball, James Andersen, Luke Wright, Moeen Ali, Ravi Bopara, Steven Finn, Grant Elliot, James Franklin, Nathan MacCullum, Albie Morkel, David Wiese, Robin Peterson, Wayne Parnell, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, T Dilshan, Carlos Brathwaite Jason Holder, Lendl Simmons and Samuel Badree.

Among the Pakistani players in the Diamond category are Anwar Ali, Yasir Shah, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Aamir, Sharjeel Khan and Sohail Tanvir.

A total of 74 players have been included in the Gold category, including 55 foreigners while of 255 players in silver category 125 are from outside Pakistan.

The PSL management has also named 24 players for the Emerging players category in the players’ draft for the PSL 2.