PSL to kick off with a bang from tomorrow

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PSL to kick off with a bang from tomorrow

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DUBAI (Dunya News/AFP) – The most-awaited Pakistan Super League (PSL) is ready to kick off in Dubai from tomorrow (Thursday).

All the cricket lovers grab your seats in front of television as the most-awaited event PSL would be started from Thursday.

The first match will be played between Islamabad United under Misbah-ul Haq’s captaincy and Quetta Gladiators. Spinner Saeed Ajmal will be seen swinging from Quetta side.

Featuring 69 local and 29 foreign stars, the five-team, 24-match league will be held From February 4 - 23 across two stadiums in Sharjah and Dubai.

According to Chairman PSL Najam Sethi, the matches will be live streamed on YouTube

The selected players were divided into five different categories – Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Emerging.

The teams were sold to private consortiums for a sum of $93 million across 10 years, with $200,000 salaries for top-tier players and relatively handsome paydays for middle-tier and emerging talent.

The winning side, meanwhile, will bring home $1 million.

Former captain and legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram said the league was vital for Pakistan to match the fast-rising standards of other Twenty20 teams.

"We have been struggling to match other teams," agreed Shoaib Malik, a former captain who was part of Pakistan team which lost a Twenty20 series in New Zealand 2-1 last month.

"The PSL provides a launching pad for the future generation of players as four emerging players in each team will learn a lot which is good for the future of Pakistan cricket," he added.

Teams participating in PSL

PESHAWAR ZALMI Head coach – Mohammad Akram

• Shahid Afridi (Pakistan, Platinum)
• Wahab Riaz (Pakistan, Platinum)
• Darren Sammy (West Indies, Platinum)
• Kamran Akmal (Pakistan, Diamond)
• Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan, Diamond)
• Chris Jordan (England, Diamond)
• Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh, Gold)
• Junaid Khan (Pakistan, Gold)
• James Allenby (Australia, Gold)
• Aamir Yamin (Pakistan, Silver)
• Dawid Malan (England, Silver)
• Imran Khan Jr. (Pakistan, Silver)
• Shahid Yousuf (Pakistan, Silver)
• Abdur Rehman (Pakistan, Silver)
• Musaddiq Ahmed Ali (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Hasan Ali (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Mohammad Asghar (Pakistan, Supplementary)
• Brad Hodge (Australia, Supplementary)
• Israrullah (Pakistan, Supplementary)
• Taj Wali (Pakistan, Supplementary)

KARACHI KINGS Head coach – Mickey Arthur

• Shoaib Malik (Pakistan, Platinum)
• Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh, Platinum)
• Sohail Tanvir (Pakistan, Platinum)
• Immad Wasim (Pakistan, Diamond)
• Ravi Bopara (England, Diamond)
• Lendl Simmons (West Indies, Diamond)
• Mohammad Amir (Pakistan, Gold)
• Bilawal Bhatti (Pakistan, Gold)
• James Vince (England, Gold)
• Iftikhar Ahmed (Pakistan, Silver)
• Nauman Anwar (Pakistan, Silver)
• Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh, Silver)
• Usama Mir (Pakistan, Silver)
• Sohail Khan (Pakistan, Silver)
• Mir Hamza (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Saifullah Bangash (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka, Supplementary)
• Shahzaib Hasan (Pakistan, Supplementary)
• Fawad Alam (Pakistan, Supplementary)

ISLAMABAD UNITEDHead coach - Dean Jones

• Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan, Platinum)
• Andre Russell (West Indies, Platinum)
• Shane Watson (Australia, Platinum)
• Samuel Badree (West Indies, Diamond)
• Mohammad Irfan (Pakistan, Diamond)
• Brad Haddin (Australia, Diamond)
• Sharjeel Khan (Pakistan, Gold)
• Mohammad Sami (Pakistan, Gold)
• Khalid Latif (Pakistan, Gold)
• Babar Azam (Pakistan, Silver)
• Imran Khalid (Pakistan, Silver)
• Kamran Ghulam (Pakistan, Silver)
• Umar Amin (Pakistan, Silver)
• Sam Billings (England, Silver)
• Ruman Raees (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Amad Butt (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Ashar Zaidi (England, Supplementary)
• Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan, Supplementary)
• Hussain Talat (Pakistan, Supplementary)
• Umar Siddiq (Pakistan, Supplementary)

LAHORE QALANDARSHead coach - Paddy Upton

• Chris Gayle (West Indies, Platinum)
• Umar Akmal (Pakistan, Platinum)
• Dwayne Bravo (West Indies, Platinum)
• Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan, Diamond)
• Yasir Shah (Pakistan, Diamond)
• Sohaib Maqsood (Pakistan, Diamond)
• Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh, Gold)
• Kevon Cooper (West Indies, Gold)
• Cameron Delport (South Africa, Gold)
• Zafar Gohar (Pakistan, Silver)
• Hammad Azam (Pakistan, Silver)
• Zia-ul-Haq (Pakistan, Silver)
• Azhar Ali (Pakistan, Silver)
• Naved Yasin (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Adnan Rasool (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan, Supplementary)
• Mukhtar Ahmed (Pakistan, Supplementary)
• Ehsan Adil (Pakistan, Supplementary)
• Imran Butt (Pakistan, Supplementary)

QUETTA GLADIATORSHead coach – Moin Khan

• Kevin Pietersen (England, Platinum)
• Ahmed Shehzad (Pakistan, Platinum)
• Sarfraz Ahmed (Pakistan, Platinum)
• Anwar Ali (Pakistan, Diamond)
• Jason Holder (West Indies, Diamond)
• Luke Wright (England, Diamond)
• Zulfiqar Babar (Pakistan, Gold)
• Umar Gul (Pakistan, Gold)
• Elton Chigumbura (Zimbabwe, Gold)
• Bilal Asif (Pakistan, Silver)
• Asad Shafiq (Pakistan, Silver)
• Mohammad Nawaz (Pakistan, Silver)
• Saad Nasim (Pakistan, Silver)
• Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan, Silver)
• Akbar-ur-Rehman (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Bismillah Khan (Pakistan, Emerging)
• Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, Supplementary)
• Aizaz Cheema (Pakistan, Supplementary)
• Ramiz Raja Jr. (Pakistan, Supplementary