As many as 485 international players from 22 nations registered for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) Player Draft 2024 scheduled for December 13 at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.
Out of the 485, at least 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.
The World No. 5 T20I batter Rilee Rossouw was earlier traded to Quetta Gladiators from Multan Sultans.
Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana, Afghanistan trio Rashid Khan, 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 is from England with 158 players, followed by West Indies with 58 of its players available for the PSL9.
Sri Lanka’s 40 players registered for the event, Afghanistan’s 36, South Africa’s 30, Bangladesh’s 21, New Zealand’s 18, Australia’s 16, Zimbabwe’s 11, and Ireland’s nine players.
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A considerable number of players have also registered from associate member countries.
Some of the players in the Platinum category include Daniel Sams and Ashton Agar from Australia; Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad and Rahmanullah Gurbaz of Afghanistan; Ben Duckett, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Dawid Malan, Luke Wood, Reece Topley, Tom Curran, Tymal Mills from England.
Sandeep Lamichhane from Nepal; James Neesham of New Zealand; Rassie van der Dussen and Imran Tahir from South Africa; Maheesh Theekshana, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka from Sri Lanka; Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Brandon King and Kyle Mayers from West Indies are also featured in the category.
The players to feature in the Diamond category include Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi from Afghanistan; Ben McDermott from Australia; Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahmudullah from Bangladesh; and Dan Lawrence, Gus Atkinson, Jordan Cox, Liam Dawson, Matthew Potts, Ollie Pope, Richard Gleeson and Sam Hain from England.
The category also features Tim Seifert, Martin Guptill and Chad Bowes from New Zealand; George Linde, Lungi Ngidi, Reeza Hendricks, Wayne Parnell and Sisanda Magala from South Africa; Dilshan Madushanka, Charith Asalanka, Dushmantha Chameera and Sadeera Samarawickrama from Sri Lanka; and Fabian Allen, Johnson Charles, Rahkeem Cornwall, Roston Chase, Shai Hope and Hayden Walsh from West Indies.