PSL teams ready to substitute four Bangladeshi players
The third edition of the Pakistan Super League is scheduled to be played from 22nd February. The six franchises of the league replaced the unavailable players in a replacement draft held in Lahore on Monday.
Lahore Qalandar had to include West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin to replace Mustafizur Rahman. The Bangladesh quick will be available for only a few games before joining his national team.
A Qalandar spokesperson reportedly said, “We brought in an extra keeper (Ramdin) as back up for Umar Akmal, in case we want to play Umar as a batsman only. We had originally picked Mitchell McClenaghan to fill in for Mustafizur's absence, so we have an extra fast bowler if we need one."
The defending champions Peshawar Zalmi will get Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan for the first four games of the tournament. The two Bangladeshi cricketer will then join the national team for the Nidhahas trophy that also involves Sri Lanka and India. Peshawar also brought in Dwayne Smith and Liam Dawson as cover. Australia fast bowler John Hastings will replace another Bangladeshi player – Mahmudullah Riyad, for Quetta Gladiators.
Mitchell Johnson, Carlos Brathwaite, Luke Wright, Angelo Mathews, and Colin Munro had been originally drafted in ahead of PSL. However, these five cricketers are going to miss the whole tournament for various reasons.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) refused to provide a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Angelo Mathews. As a result, Lahore Qalandars have picked New Zealand's Anton Devcich instead.
Brathwaite will be playing for West Indies in the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe during the league. On the other hand,
"Sadly I've had to pull out of the PSL this year. I've been carrying niggles all winter and they aren't getting better so, to be fair to both Karachi Kings and Sussex, I respectfully have to miss it. Great tournament. Hope to play in it next year," Wright tweeted.
Karachi replaced Wright with another England opener Joe Denly, whereas Jofra Archer was roped in by Quetta as a replacement for Brathwaite. Tymal Mills will be playing for the Karachi Kings team replacing Australia fast-bowler Mitchell Johnson.
Meanwhile, JP Duminy, David Willey, and Alex Hales will not be featuring in their team – Islamabad United as well. Hence, the Islamabad-based franchise had to bring in Sri Lanka all-rounder Asela Gunaratne, England pacer Steven Finn and Caribbean batsman Chadwick Walton.
