The first-ever player auction for the 11th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) was held in Lahore on Wednesday, with fast bowler Naseem Shah sold to Rawalpindi for Rs86.5 million — the highest bid of the auction.
The auction ended after several unsold players were snapped up by the eight franchises. Earlier rounds of bidding saw major players auctioned off, including Fakhar Zaman, David Warner and Muhammad Amir.
Last month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that the upcoming season of the country’s premier cricket league would adopt an auction model, replacing the previous draft system.
Islamabad United
The auction began with bidding on all-rounders, starting with Faheem Ashraf at the base price of Rs42m, with Islamabad United putting in the final bid at Rs85m.
The team also scored New Zealand cricketer Mark Chapman after they bid Rs70m against Peshawar Zalmi’s Rs68.5m.
Mohammad Waseem Jr joined the team at the winning bid of Rs41m — a marked increase from his base price at 22m — against Quetta Gladiators.
The team secured Mir Hamza Sajjad as well at a winning bid of Rs7m.
Islamabad United also bagged Sameer Minhas at the bid of Rs19m after back-and-forth bidding against Quetta Gladiators. Sameen Gul also joined the team.
All-rounder Imad Wasim, who was unsold in the prior rounds of bidding, was secured for Rs22m. He was followed by England’s Richard Gleeson, who was snapped up with an Rs11m bid.
Batter Haider Ali was secured for Rs15m after back-and-forth bidding with Sialkot.
Hyderabad and Lahore bid for bowler Mohammad Hasnain, before the latter bowed out and Islamabad United joined the fray. Hyderabad dropped out of the race, with Hasnain secured by Islamabad for Rs7.75m.
Additionally, Nepalese batter Dipendra Singh Airee was bought for Rs6m.
The squad also includes Shadab Khan, Salman Irshad, Andries Gous, Devon Conway, Mehran Mumtaz, Shamar Josheph and Max Bryant.
Karachi Kings
Islamabad United and Karachi Kings went neck and neck bidding for Pakistan team captain Salman Ali Agha. However, with the final bid of Rs58.5m, Karachi Kings secured the player.
Australian cricketer Adam Zampa is also set to join the team after the Karachi Kings secured him with a bid of Rs45m.
Bidding on wicket keepers began with Azam Khan — at the base price of Rs11m. With the final bids of Rs31.5m by Sialkot Stallionz and Rs32.5m by Karachi Kings, the latter managed to secure Khan.
Karachi Kings also secured Shahid Aziz with a winning bid of Rs9.25m.
It also secured Mir Hamza with a bid of Rs24m along with Aqib Illyas at a bid of Rs6m.
Additionally, the team also bagged Australian batsman David Warner for Rs79m after a round of back-and-forth bidding with Peshawar Zalmi.
Mohammad Hamza Sohail also joined Karachi Kings.
Later, the West Indies’ Johnson Charles was finally sold, with an Rs20m bid from the Karachi Kings.
Khuzaima bin Tanveer was sold to the team after it bid Rs9m for the player against Rawalpindi and Peshawar Zalmi.
Muhammad Waseem was sold for his base price of Rs11m, while pacer Ihsanullah was picked up for Rs10.5m after back-and-forth bidding with Sialkot.
Rizwanullah was purchased by the franchise for his base price of Rs6m.
Lahore Qalandars
Lahore Qalandars regained fast-bowler Haris Rauf at Rs76m against Rawalpindi’s Rs74.5m bid.
The team also managed to retain Fakhar Zaman with a winning bid of Rs79.5m against Peshawar Zalmi. It bagged Usama Mir at Rs35, followed closely by Ubaid Shah at Rs27m.
Mohammad Farooq was sold to the team at a winning bid of Rs6m.
Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka was snapped up after the break for Rs7.5m. Afterwards, they bought Bangladeshi opening batter Parvez Hossain Emon for Rs6m.
The Lahore Qalandars then bagged Asif Ali at his base price of Rs6m, later snapping up all-rounder Hussain Talat for Rs7.75m.
Right-handed batter Tayyab Tahir was bought for Rs6m, while the West Indies’ Gudakesh Moties was snapped up for Rs11m.
Sialkot Stallionz
Sialkot Stallionz bagged Sahibzada Farhan against Karachi Kings, with a bid of Rs57m. The team also secured Australia’s Ashton Turner at Rs42m.
Australian cricketer Peter Siddle was also sold to Sialkot Stallionz with the winning bid of Rs25m, while spinner Tabrez Shamsi was sold to the team at a bid of 22m.
Delano Potgieter was sold to the team at Rs6m.
Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Philippe was sold to Sialkot Stallionz after the break for Rs23m. Batter Shan Masood, meanwhile, was snapped up for a bid of Rs6.5m.
Spinner Momin Qamar was secured by Sialkot for Rs10.75m after a flurry of bidding with Hyderabad. They then raised the paddle at the very last moment to buy Muhammad Awais Zafar for his base price of Rs6m.
The squad also includes Steve Smith, Muhammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Ahmed Daniyal, Lachlan Shaw and Saad Masood.
Quetta Gladiators
Quetta Gladiators secured Khawaja Mohammad Nafay with a winning bid of Rs65m. The team also bought Faisal Akram with the final bid of Rs12.5m.
Wasim Akram Jr and Khan Zeb are also set to join the team. The team also secured Bismillah Khan, Saqib Khan, Brett Hampton, and Samuel Harper at the winning bid of Rs6m for each.
Bevon Jacobs also joined the team.
Later, batter Saud Shakeel was snapped up by the Quetta Gladiators for Rs6.5m after a bidding war with Sialkot Stallionz.
English all-rounder Tom Curran was bought by Quetta for Rs42m.
Australia’s Ben McDermott was secured at the last minute for Rs11m.
Team Rawalpindi
Karachi Kings put in the first bid for Naseem Shah at Rs65m, followed by Islamabad United bidding Rs66.5m. However, after a series of back-and-forth bids between the two, Rawalpindi bid Rs86.5m, following which Karachi Kings bowed out.
With the auction’s third-highest bid, the team secured New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell at Rs80.5m. Bangladeshi spinner Rishaad Hossain was also sold to Rawalpindi for a bid of Rs30m.
Rawalpindi also secured Muhammad Amir with a winning bid of Rs54m.
The team also secured Amad wicket-keeper Amad Butt, with the winning bid of Rs8m.
The previously unsold Dian Forrester was snapped up for Rs6m after the break.
Rawalpindi also successfully bid Rs11m for English wicketkeeper batter Laurie Evans.
After a flurry of back-to-back bids by the Peshawar Zalmi and Team Rawalpindi, all-rounder Asif Afridi was secured by the latter with Rs24m — a bid four times higher than his base price of Rs6m.
Rawalpindi and Lahore began bidding for Kamran Ghulam, with the former securing the batter for Rs6.5m.
Pacer Fawad Ali was secured by the team for Rs6m at the last moment, with Mohammad Amir Khan snapped up for his base price of Rs6m.
Rawalpindi also bought Shahzaib Khan for his base price of Rs6m.
The squad also includes Muhammad Rizwan, Sam Billings, Zaman Khan, Abdullah Fazal, and Yasir Khan.
Peshawar Zalmi
So far, Peshawar Zalmi has secured Aamir Jamal at a bid of Rs19m and Khalid Usman at a bid of Rs6m.
Aaron Hardie joined the team after it bid Rs63m. The team also secured Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Haris, Sufyan Muqeem, Abdul Samad, and Ali Raza.
Peshawar Zalmi secured Ali Subhan after the winning bid of Rs6.25m.
After the 90-minute recess, Peshawar secured English batter James Vince for an Rs30m bid, as well as New Zealand’s Michael Bracewell for Rs42m.
They also secured Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis for Rs42m, up from a base price of Rs22m.
All-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed was secured for Rs18m after a bidding war with Team Rawalpindi.
Bangladesh’s Nahid Rana and batter Miraz Tahir Baig were snapped up for their base price of Rs6m.
At the auction ceremony’s conclusion, the franchise made an official announcement that Kashif Ali, from their player development programme, would be part of their squad.
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen
The newly introduced Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen in a last-minute bid of Rs21.5m bought fast-bowler Mohammad Ali against Rawalpindi’s Rs20.5m.
The team also secured Hassan Khan at the winning bid of Rs18.5m after back-and-forth rounds of bidding with Quetta Gladiators and Lahore Qalandars.
Shayan Jahangir also joined the team. The Kingsmen acquired Ottneil Baartman at Rs11m.
Australian fast bowler Riley Meredith was snapped up for Rs42m after the break, having previously been unsold.
The franchise secured several players at their base price of Rs6m, including left-handed batter Sharjeel Khan, all-rounder Asif Mehmood, bowler Hunain Shah and batters Saad Ali, Mohammad Tayyab Arif and Rizwan Mehmood.
So far, the team includes Saim Ayub, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khan, Maaz Sadaqat, Hassan Khan, Shayan Jahangir, Kusal Perara, Irfan Khan Niazi, Mohammad Ali, Otteneil Baartman, Hammad Azam and Akif Javed.
Many players unsold
As the auction began, Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz was auctioned at the base price of Rs11m, however, no bids were made by any of the teams.
England’s David Willey remained unsold as well, while batter Shaan Masood also received no bids. All-rounder William Sutherland — at the base price of 42m — received no bids either.
Similarly, Sri Lankan cricketer Dinesh Chandimal, England’s Chris Jordan and Muhammad Hasnain also went unsold.
Following the 90-minute recess, Australia’s Usman Khawaja and New Zealand’s Jimmy Neesham and Bangladesh legend Shakib Al Hasan were among the players still unsold.
At the outset of the ceremony, PSL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Salman Naseer addressed the audience.
“When the HBL PSL X ended, and the euphoria died down a little, and we looked ahead at the path in front of us, all commercial contracts had come to an end…monumental challenges lay ahead,” he said.
“The PSL and PCB teams have burned midnight oil day in and day out to get us where we are today,” Naseer said.
The tournament is scheduled to be held from March 26 to May 3. The forthcoming PSL will also feature two new franchises — Hyderabad and Sialkot — raising the total number of teams to 8.
