In some big news for Pakistan skipper Babar Azam ahead of arguably his biggest assignment at the helm — the T20 World Cup — he was traded in by the Karachi Kings to Peshawar Zalmi for Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik before the upcoming season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Quetta Gladiators were also interested in Babar but the side were unable to close the deal.
Kings is the third team Babar will represent in the PSL. He started with Islamabad United in 2016 before moving to Kings the next year. Since then he was with them. Malik, on the other hand, returns to Kings. He played for them in 2016 and 2017, moved to Multan Sultans for 2018 and 2019, and was with Zalmi from 2020 to 2022.
This will be the third team that Babar will represent in the PSL. He began his stint with Islamabad United in 2016 before moving to Kings in 2017 and has been with them since. The 2009 T20 World Cup winner Malik returns to the Kings having earlier played for them in 2016 and 2017. He then moved to Multan Sultans for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, before playing for Zalmi from 2020 to 2022.
Meanwhile, defending champions Lahore Qalandars retained their core set of players, releasing just Fakhar Zaman. But reports from the media suggest that Fakhar will be picked by Qalandars given that the franchise will open the draft.
PSL draft rules
Franchises can increase their squad size to 18 during the draft. The six teams of the PSL can choose up to three players from the Platinum, Diamond and Gold categories, five in Silver, two in Emerging and two in Supplementary categories. Just like in 2021, the franchises will have the Right-to-Match card to pick any player they have released from their roster.
