Unveiling the Local Player Category Renewals for PSL 9

Nine players in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) have seen changes in their categories following the local player category renewal process for the upcoming edition of the league. Here are the key updates:

Upgrades:

1. Naseem Shah and Iftikhar Ahmed from Quetta Gladiators have been upgraded from the Diamond category to Platinum.
2. Sarfraz Ahmed, also from Quetta Gladiators, has been moved from Gold to Diamond.
3. Mohammad Haris, the wicketkeeper-batter for Peshawar Zalmi, has shifted from Gold to Diamond.
4. Pace bowler Salman Irshad has moved up to Gold from Silver.
5. Multan Sultans fast bowlers Abbas Afridi and Ihsanullah have both been promoted to the Gold category after playing as emerging picks in the previous year.
6. Islamabad United’s Azam Khan and Faheem Ashraf have been upgraded from Gold to Diamond.
7. Zeeshan Zamir has moved from Emerging to Silver.
8. Mubasir Khan has moved from Emerging to Gold.
9. Karachi Kings’ Tayyab Tahir has moved from Silver to Gold, while Qasim Akram has been upgraded to Gold from Emerging.
10. Lahore Qalandars’ Kamran Ghulam and Zaman Khan have been enhanced to Gold from Silver and Emerging categories, respectively.

Demotions:

1. Quetta Gladiators’ Mohammad Nawaz has been demoted from Platinum to Diamond.
2. Mohammad Hasnain from Quetta has moved from Diamond to Gold.
3. Haider Ali from Karachi Kings has been demoted from Platinum to Gold.
4. Asif Ali from Islamabad United has been demoted from Platinum to Diamond.

It’s important to note that players who have represented Pakistan at the international level cannot be relegated below the Gold category.

The category renewal process involved franchise representatives voting for every player. Teams could not vote for their own players but could submit review requests at the end of the voting stage. The final categorization of local players took into account factors like national and domestic team performances and perceived T20 brand value.

The next step involves franchises submitting relegation requests for players before finalizing player retentions. Players’ base categories will be considered, and if they are not matched, players may be relegated to a lower category.

Additionally, U23 players cannot be part of a squad as an Emerging player for more than two years unless they have played nine or fewer matches in those two years.

This process is a crucial part of preparing for the upcoming edition of the PSL, tentatively scheduled from 8 February to 24 March 2024.