Karachi Kings, Pakistan’s biggest city’s HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise on Wednesday, finalised their squad for the upcoming HBL PSL 9 in the Players Draft held at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Lahore.
The 2020 HBL PSL champions, who had the second pick in the first round of the Platinum category, roped in the legendary West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard, who has a record tally of 12,390 runs and 312 wickets in the T20 format.
The Kings then picked Australian all-rounder Daniel Sams, who will be featuring in the HBL PSL for the first time. The all-rounder has represented Australia in 10 T20Is. He also has an impressive record in T20 cricket, having taken 179 wickets and scored 1,699 runs in the format.
Karachi Kings’ last Platinum pick was Pakistan’s all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, who had been a part of Quetta Gladiators since the inaugural edition of the marquee league.
Nawaz is the sixth-highest leading wicket-taker of the league’s history with 70 scalps in 76 matches with the best bowling figures of 4/13. He also has 728 runs to his name with the help of a half-century.
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The exciting combination of fierce, determined & dominant players π₯
The #KingsSquad is set to create skillful waves in #HBLPSL9 πβ€οΈ#YehHaiKarachi | #HBLPSLDraft | #KarachiKings pic.twitter.com/SoLBRZ7McO
— Karachi Kings (@KarachiKingsARY) December 13, 2023
The former champions then bagged the services of New Zealand’s Tim Seifert, who joined Hasan Ali and James Vince in the Diamond category.
The wicketkeeper batter possesses a decent T20 record, having scored over four thousand runs with the help of two centuries and 22 half-centuries.
In the Silver category, Karachi Kings roped in young pacer Mohammad Amir Khan before picking up seasoned all-rounder Anwar Ali and U19 cricket sensation Arafat Minhas, who rose to fame in the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Junior League (PJL).
He was named the captain of the team of the tournament and was also adjudged the best all-rounder of the PJL.
The trio of Amir, Anwar and Arafat joined Mir Hamza and Mohammad Akhlaq in the Silver category, who were retained by the franchise.
Known for identifying and nurturing young talents, the Kings then drafted right-arm medium pacer Sirajuddin in the Emerging category, joining Mohammad Irfan Khan.
The season five winners also acquired the services of current Pakistan U19 captain Saad Baig in the Supplementary category before making their last pick of the HBL PSL 9 Players Draft when they roped in English bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton.
Overton has played over 100 T20 matches and has picked up 70 wickets at an average of almost 30. He also has 987 runs to his name, coming at a hefty strike rate of over 174.
Karachi Kings Squad for HBL PSL 9: Shan Masood (c), Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Mohammad Nawaz, Tim Siefert, James Vince, Hasan Ali,Β Shoaib Malik, Tabraiz Shamis, Mohammad Amir Khan, Anwar Ali, Arafat Minhas, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Akhlaq, Muhammad Irfan Niazi, Sirajuddin, Saad Baig, and Jamie Overton.