Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Seasoned Australia batter Steve Smith became the most expensive player in Pakistan Super League history after being signed for PKR 14 crore ahead of the revamped 11th edition of the tournament. Smith, who is set to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, was snapped up by new franchise Sialkot Stallions for approximately USD 500,000.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The PSL has expanded from six to eight teams, with the Pakistan Cricket Board introducing a players’ auction for the first time, ending the draft system that had been in place for the past decade.
The auction, held in Lahore on Wednesday, featured several high-profile overseas names, including David Warner, Adam Zampa, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mustafizur Rahman, Devon Conway, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamshi, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Mendis and Marnus Labuschagne.In total, 103 players were signed by the eight franchises. Fast bowler Naseem Shah emerged as the most expensive Pakistani buy, joining Islamabad United for PKR 8.65 crore, while all-rounder Faheem Ashraf was also picked up by the same franchise for PKR 8.5 crore.Babar Azam was retained by Peshawar Zalmi for PKR 7 crore, while the highest-priced retention was Saim Ayub, who was kept by the franchise for PKR 12.2 crore.The PSL is scheduled to run from March 26 to May 3 and will clash directly with the Indian Premier League.Two new franchises — Sialkot and Hyderabad — were added after their rights were purchased by overseas Pakistani businessmen for PKR 185,000 crore and PKR 175,000 crore respectively. Multan Sultans were also sold and rebranded as Rawalpindi following a change in ownership.
