PSL 2018: 13 more international stars join league

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has released names of 13 more players who have agreed to be part of the lucrative Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The list includes New Zealand trio of Luke Ronchi, Mitchell McClenaghan and Colin Munro along with England’s Adil Rashid, Australia’s John Hastings and the South African duo of Albie Morkel and Wayne Parnell.

With the release of 13 more names, the number of new signings for PSL is now at 20.

West Indian Jason Holder has also returned to PSL, he was denied permission by his home board in 2017 to participate in the league.

“Pakistan Super League is all set to become bigger and better with more international stars signing up to take part in the Player Draft for season three,” says a statement from the PSL secretariat.

PCB’s chairman Najam Sethi said that top quality cricketers are signing up with PSL every year now.

“This is an expansion year and, therefore, our efforts are geared towards making this bigger and better than the first two seasons. We have top tier international talent joining a pool of released players and this sets us up very nicely for the main draft,” said Sethi.

With new players signing up for the league, this year’s PSL Players’ Draft will see teams vying for top-tier international talent including JP Duminy, Mitchell Johnson, Mustafizur Rahman, Wayne Parnell, Colin Munro, Imran Tahir, Luke Ronchi, Angelo Mathews, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adil Rashid, John Hastings and Chris Lynn.

South African middle-order star JP Duminy, who recently called an end to his Test career in a bid to focus on limited overs cricket, will add experience and firepower to the player roster. He is joined by his national teammates Wayne Parnell and Pakistan-born South African spin wizard Imran Tahir.

Australian stars Mitchell Johnson and Chris Lynn have also signed up for this year’s PSL Player Draft. Johnson has been in phenomenal bowling form this year, including match-winning performances for the Perth Scorchers. Lynn has made a mark across the international T20 circuit and will be keen to bring his aggressive batting to the HBL Pakistan Super League.

Former Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews will also be looking to make his inaugural HBL PSL appearance this season. Mathews will be joined by current West Indian skipper Jason Holder, Aussie all-rounder John Hastings, and the Kiwi duo of Luke Ronchi and Mitchell McClenaghan.

Some of this season’s new signings are listed below:

Mitchell McClenaghan (New Zealand), Colin Munro (New Zealand), Jason Holder (West Indies), Adil Rashid (England), John Hastings (Australia), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), Lendl Simmons (West Indies), Luke Ronchi (New Zealand), Wayne Parnell (South Africa), James Vince (England), Darren Bravo (West Indies), Albie Morkel (South Africa), Tim Bresnan (England), JP Duminy (South Africa), Chris Lynn (Australia), Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Evin Lewis (West Indies), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

Teams will now pick one player each in the platinum, diamond and gold categories, two in silver, two in emerging and up to four players in the supplementary round to make up their squads.

“The draft pool for this year will consist of new signings as well as players who were released at the end of the retention window and went unpicked in the expansion draft,” said an official of PSL.

The third edition of PSL will be held in February 2018.