LAHORE: Four hundred and eighty five international players from 22 nations have registered for the HBL PSL Player Draft 2024 scheduled to take place on 13 December at the National Cricket Academy, Lahore. 46 players are in the Platinum category while 76 players have signed up in the Diamond category.
The foreign players roster for the draft is boosted by the presence of England’s Dawid Malan and South Africa’s Reeza Hendricks, both of whom feature in the top 10 of the ICC Men’s T20I player rankings for batters. World No. 5 T20I batter Rilee Rossouw was earlier traded to Quetta Gladiators from Multan Sultans.
Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana, Afghanistan duo Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman and West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, all ranked among the top 10 T20I bowlers, have made themselves available for the draft. World No. 2 T20I all-rounder Mohammad Nabi is also a part of the draft.
The maximum number of players to register from a foreign country are from England (158). The next on the list – from full member countries – is West Indies (58), Sri Lanka (40), Afghanistan (36), South Africa (30), Bangladesh (21), New Zealand (18), Australia (16), Zimbabwe (11) and Ireland (nine). A considerable number of players have also registered from associate member countries.
Some of the prominent players in the Platinum category include: Daniel Sams, Ashton Agar (both Australia), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (all Afghanistan), Ben Duckett, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Dawid Malan, Luke Wood, Reece Topley, Tom Curran, Tymal Mills (all England), Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal), James Neesham (New Zealand), Rassie van der Dussen, Imran Tahir (both South Africa), Maheesh Theekshana, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (all Sri Lanka), Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Brandon King and Kyle Mayers (all West Indies)
The notable players to feature in Diamond category include: Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi (both Afghanistan), Ben McDermott (Australia), Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahmudullah (all Bangladesh), Dan Lawrence, Gus Atkinson, Jordan Cox, Liam Dawson, Matthew Potts, Ollie Pope, Richard Gleeson, Sam Hain (all England), Tim Seifert, Martin Guptill, Chad Bowes (all New Zealand), George Linde, Lungi Ngidi, Reeza Hendricks, Wayne Parnell, Sisanda Magala (all South Africa), Dilshan Madushanka, Charith Asalanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Sadeera Samarawickrama (all Sri Lanka), Fabian Allen, Johnson Charles, Rahkeem Cornwall, Roston Chase, Shai Hope, Hayden Walsh (all West Indies)
