Four hundred and eighty-five international players from 22 countries have registered for the PSL Player Draft 2024 to be held on December 13 at the National Cricket Academy, Lahore. 46 players are in the platinum category while 76 players are in the diamond category.
The roster of foreign players for the draft has been bolstered by the presence of England’s David Malan and South Africa’s Reza Hendricks, both of whom are in the top 10 of the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings for batsmen. Top 15 T20 batsman Riley Russo was earlier traded by Multan Sultans to Quetta Gladiators.
Sri Lankan spinner Mahesh Thekshana, Afghanistan duo Fazal Haq Farooqui and Mujeeb ur Rehman, and West Indies left-arm spinner Aqeel Hussain have made themselves available for the draft. All-rounder Mohammad Nabi, ranked 12th in the T20 rankings, is also part of the draft.
The maximum number of players registered from a foreign country is from England which is 158. Next in the list are West Indies (58), Sri Lanka (40), Afghanistan (36), South Africa (30), Bangladesh (21), New Zealand (18), Australia (16). Zimbabwe (11) and Ireland (9), associate member countries, have also registered a significant number of players.
Some of the prominent players in the platinum category include Daniel Sams, Ashton Agar (both from Australia), Fazlul Haq Farooqui, Mujeebur Rahman, Noor Ahmed, Rehmanullah Garbaz (all from Afghanistan), Ben Duckett, Chris Jordan, David Willey, David Mallan, Luke Wood, Reece Topley, Tom Curran, Taymil Mills (England), Sandeep Lamchane (Nepal), James Neesham (New Zealand), Rasi van der Dusen, Imran Tahir (South Africa), Mahesh Theekshana, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasan Shanaka (Sri Lanka), Kieron Pollard, Rowman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Brendan King and Kyle Mears (West Indies).
Among the players featured in the diamond category are Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi (both Afghanistan), Ben McDermott (Australia), Liton Das, Mehdi Hasan Miraz, Mahmudullah (all Bangladesh), Dan Lawrence, Gus Atkinson, Jordan Cox, Liam Dawson. , Matthew Potts, Ollie Pope, Richard Gleeson, Sam Hein (all England), Tim Seifert, Martin Guptill, Chad Bowes (all New Zealand), George Linde, Lungi Nigidi, Reza Hendricks, Wayne Parnell, Cesinda Megala (all South Africa) , Dilshan Madhushanka, Charith Asalinka, Dushmanatha Chamera, Sadera Samarawickrama (all Sri Lanka), Fabian Allen, Johnson Charles, Raheem Cornwall, Ruston Chase, Shai Hope, Hayden Walsh (all West Indies).
