Sangakkara among other superstars at Pakistan Super League

The Pakistan Cricket Board released a list of players retained by Pakistan Super League ( PSL) franchises for the third season after the deadline to trade and release players expired.

Karachi Kings have released West Indies powerhouse Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard as well as Sri L a n k a n Ku m a r Sangakkara, who captained the side last year and surprised everyone with his performance in the recently held Natwest T20 Blast despite having retired from international cricket. Another former captain of the team, Shoaib Malik, was also released by the franchise.

Shahid Afridi, who officially joined the Kings last week, is expected to captain the side in the third edition of PSL.

Quettta Gladiators have released opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Gul and Luke Wright.

Lahore Qalandar, who ended in the last place in season two of PSL, have released Jason Roy and Azhar Ali. Grant Elliott and Sohail Tanvir will also not appear for the Lahore Qalandars in PSL's third edition.

Tamim Iqbal, Marlon Samuels and David Malan are among those released by Peshawar Zalmi. Eoin Morgan and pacer Junaid Khan have also been released by them.

Islamabad United have let go of Shane Watson, Brad Hayden, Sam Billings and Mohammad Irfan.

Sohail Khan has moved to L a h o re Qalandars wh i l e Mohammad Rizwan will appear for Karachi Kings.

All released players will now be eligible for selection by the Multan Sultans, who will make their first appearance in the league in 2018. They will submit their picks on October 10.

Players who go un- selected at the expansion draft will join fresh entrants to this year’s player roster for the main draft.

The teams were required to retain nine players each.

Courtesy the Dawn