De Villiers, Smith star attractions at PSL-4 draft

LAHORE: South African legend AB de Villiers and prolific Australian batsman Steve Smith are the two of the star attractions at this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL-4) player draft.

Some of the world’s most exciting T20 stars are set to dazzle at the PSL once again. The list also includes the Windies trio of Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine. Bravo was picked up by Peshawar Zalmi last year but couldn’t join the team due to an injury. Australian star Chris Lynn, who was ruled out of last year’s tournament for Lahore Qalandars due to an injury, has also signed with the PSL again for the upcoming season. Lynn is joined on the list by fellow Australian star Shane Watson who topped the batting charts for Quetta Gladiators last year with 319 runs in 10 matches. Black Caps’ wicket-keeper batsman Luke Ronchi goes up from Diamond to Platinum this year, given his prolific form in the last season where he was the highest run-scorer with 435 runs in 11 matches for Islamabad United.

Afghanistan spin sensation Rashid Khan will be looking to play his first PSL game this year after being called up for national duty last year. He is currently placed on the Quetta Gladiators roster. Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera is also in the mix as a Platinum category player, Perera has represented Gladiators in the past.

“This is a very exciting mix of top quality foreign players,” said Ehsan Mani, Chairman PCB. “In the next few days, PSL will continue to announce more foreign player signings in various categories as the excitement grows around what should be an extremely interesting Player Draft.”