Pakistan stars to bolster BBL draft

PAKISTANI superstars Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi are set to enter the Big Bash League draft and give the competition an edge not even the Indian Premier League can boast.

Cricket Australia announced on Thursday that the inaugural draft will take place as a prime time television event on Fox Cricket on August 28 – taking advantage of AFL bye week – with a lottery confirming the Melbourne Renegades will get first pick and Ricky Ponting’s Hobart Hurricanes forced to wait until last for a selection. Locking in a draft order will now allow the fun and games to begin, with teams motivated to make selections which not only boost their own rosters but trip up the plans of rivals in the process.

Four teams have an opportunity to bid on superstar Rashid Khan before Adelaide get the chance to match at No.5, but the expected addition of some of the world’s best players from Pakistan is set to shake up the entire draft.

In Azam, Rizwan - the top two ranked players in T20 international cricket - as well as Afridi, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan, Pakistan possesses arguably the game’s best T20 talent, only they’re blocked from playing in the IPL by the Indian Government because of their nationality.

With Faf du Plessis and West Indian great Kieron Pollard already signed up, CA is on track to secure an impressive list of platinum talent for the draft, although the cunning strategies of teams to try to snake their opposition will come into their own more for players who have nominated across multiple categories of Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Kath Loughnan will host Fox Cricket’s coverage immediately following an August 28 ODI between Australia and Zimbabwe, with Aussie stars Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch set to play a role in the on-night analysis.