The Pakistan Super League held its inaugural draft on Sunday in Lahore, and immediately featured draft-day intrigue and excitement.
Shahid Afridi was made the first pick to Peshawar Zalmi, but only after they traded up with Islamabad United from the third pick to select him.
He was followed by Shoaib Malik, to Karachi Kings, taken second. Shane Watson to Islamabad United, Kevin Pietersen to Quetta Gladiators and Chris Gayle to Lahore Qalandars rounded out the opening round.
The wildly popular Afridi will be a major draw for Pakistan fans in the UAE, where the PSL will stage its first season in Dubai and Sharjah. It begins February 4.
The Twenty20 league’s draft is ongoing on Monday – they had announced player costs of US$200,000 (Dh735,000) for Round 1 picks, and $140,000 for Round 2 and Round 3 selections.
Sarfraz Ahmed taken sixth to start the second round by Quetta, followed by Andre Russell to Islamabad. Dwayne Bravo went eight to Lahore and Shakib Al Hasan was ninth to Karachi.
Islamabad again selected to copmlete the round, as a result of their earlier trade that swapped their third round selection for Peshawar’s second round pick. They took Misbah-ul-Haq.
Umar Akmal (Lahore, 11th), Ahmed Shehzad (Quetta, 12th), Wahab Riaz (Peshawar, 13th), Darren Sammy (Peshawar, 14th), Sohail Tanvir (Karachi, 15th) filled out the third round.
The second stage of the draft had began by midday Monday. Each team are to have 16 players.
UPDATE:
Results
1 – Shahid Afridi, Peshawar Zalmi
2 – Shoaib Malik, Karachi Kings
3 – Shane Watson, Islamabad United
4 – Kevin Pietersen, Quetta Gladiators
5 – Chris Gayle, Lahore Qalandars
6 – Sarfraz Ahmed, Quetta
7 – Andre Russell, Islamabad
8 – Dwayne Bravo, Lahore
9 – Shakib Al Hasan, Karachi
10 – Misbah-ul-Haq, Islamabad
11 – Umar Akmal, Lahore
12 – Ahmed Shehzad, Quetta
13 – Wahab Riaz, Peshawar
14 – Darren Sammy, Peshawar
15 – Sohail Tanvir, Karachi
16 – Imad Wasim, Karachi
17 – Mohammad Rizwan, Lahore
18 – Anwar Ali, Quetta
19 – Samuel Badree, Islamabad
20 – Mohammad Irfan, Islamabad
21 – Kamran Akmal, Peshawar
22 – Brad Haddin, Islamabad
23 – Ravi Bopara, Karachi
24 – Yasir Shah, Lahore
25 – Jason Holder, Quetta
26 – Mohammad Hafeez, Peshawar
27 – Chris Jordan, Peshawar
28 – Lendl Simmons, Karachi
29 – Sohaib Maqsood, Lahore
30 – Luke Wright, Quetta
31 – Mohammad Amir, Karachi
32 – Mustafizur Rahman, Lahore
33 – Zulfiqar Babar, Quetta
34 – Sharjeel Khan, Islamabad
35 – Tamim Iqbal, Peshawar
36 – Kevin Cooper, Lahore
37 – Umar Gul, Quetta
38 – Mohammad Sami, Islamabad
39 – Junaid Khan, Peshawar
40 – Bilawal Bhatti, Karachi
41 – Elton Chigumbura, Quetta
42 – James Allenby, Peshawar
43 – Cameron Delport, Lahore
44 – James Vince, Karachi
45 – Khalid Latif, Islamabad
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