Local player categories renewed for HBL PSL 11

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed the category renewals of 89 local players for the 11th edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League, with five players promoted to the prestigious Platinum category.

Pakistan’s T20I captain Salman Ali Agha, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali and Abrar Ahmed have been elevated to Platinum. Among them, Sahibzada Farhan was previously in the Gold category, while the other four have moved up from Diamond.

Several established stars — Shadab Khan, Naseem Shah, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan, Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Amir — have retained their Platinum status after featuring in the same category during HBL PSL X.

Under the revised retention rules, each franchise will be allowed to retain a maximum of four players, limited to one player per category. Following the completion of retentions, teams will take part in the first-ever HBL PSL Player Auction to complete their squads on Wednesday, 11 February.

A total of 11 players have been placed in the Diamond category, including three each from Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans, two each from Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings, one from Peshawar Zalmi, and none from Islamabad United. Mohammad Salman Mirza, Sufyan Moqim and Mohammad Wasim Jnr are the players promoted from Gold to Diamond.

The Gold category comprises 32 players, with eight from Karachi Kings, six from Peshawar Zalmi, five each from Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators, and four each from Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars.

In the Silver category, Multan Sultans lead with seven players, followed by Lahore Qalandars with three, Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi with two each, and one each from Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings.

The Emerging category features 14 players, including three each from Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi, two each from Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans, and one from Lahore Qalandars. Hunain Shah, Ubaid Shah, Mirza Mamoon Imtiaz, Mohammad Naeem and Mohammad Azab have progressed from Emerging to Silver, while Hasan Nawaz has earned a promotion to Gold after featuring in the Emerging category last season.

The updated player categories set the stage for an important retention phase and the landmark auction ahead of the upcoming PSL season.

Local category renewals (team-wise):

Islamabad United – Shadab Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim (all Platinum), Azam Khan, Haider Ali, Salman Irshad, Rumman Raees (all Gold), Mohammad Faiq, Hunain Shah (both Silver), Saad Masood, Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori (all Emerging)

Karachi Kings – Hasan Ali (Platinum), Mohmmad Abbas Afridi, Shan Masood (both Diamond), Khushdil Shah, Aamir Jamal, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Mir Hamza, Zahid Mehmood, Omair Bin Yousuf, Shahnawaz Dahani, Arafat Minhas (all Gold), Mirza Mamoon Imtiaz (Silver), Muhammad Riazullah, Fawad Ali, Saad Baig (all Emerging)

Lahore Qalandars – Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf (all Platinum), Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Salman Mirza (both Diamond), Zaman Khan, Jahandad Khan, Asif Afridi, Asif Ali (all Gold), Muhammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Naeem, Mohammad Azab (all Silver), Momin Qamar (Emerging)

Multan Sultans – Mohammad Rizwan (Platinum), Usama Mir, Iftikhar Ahmed, Usman Khan (all Diamond), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Faisal Akram, Akif Javed, Tayyab Tahir (all Gold), Yasir Khan, Muhammad Amir Barki, Mohammad Junaid, Humayun Altaf, Ali Imran, Jahanzaib Sultan, Ubaid Shah (all Silver), Shahid Aziz, Mohammad Zulkifal (both Emerging)

Peshawar Zalmi – Babar Azam, Saim Ayub (both Platinum), Sufyan Moqim (Diamond), Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Ali, Abdul Samad, Hussain Talat, Ahmed Daniyal, Ihsanullah (all Gold), Arif Yaqoob and Mehran Mumtaz (both Silver), Abdullah Fazal, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat (all Emerging)

Quetta Gladiators – Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Abrar Ahmed (all Platinum), Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Usman Tariq (all Diamond), Khurram Shahzad, Haseebullah Khan, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Hasan Nawaz, Danish Aziz (all Gold), Ali Majid (Silver), Mohammad Zeeshan, Shamyl Hussain (both Emerging)