PCB downgrades Hassan Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed's categories for PSL 2023

LAHORE: Ahead of the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Tuesday renewed the categories for local players.

The cricket board upgraded the categories of some of the players which include:

• Mohammad Wasim Junior (Islamabad United; from Gold to Diamond)
• Shahnawaz Dahani and Shan Masood (Multan Sultans; from Gold to Diamond)
• Haider Ali and Mohammad Haris (Peshawar Zalmi; Haider from Diamond to Platinum, Haris from Silver to Gold)
• Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah (Quetta Gladiators; Nawaz from Diamond to Platinum, Naseem from Gold to Diamond).

Meanwhile, the PCB downgraded some players, which include:

• Hassan Ali and Faheem Ashraf (Islamabad United; Hasan from Platinum to Diamond, Faheem from Diamond to Gold)
• Sohaib Maqsood (Multan Sultans; from Diamond to Gold)
• Wahab Riaz (Peshawar Zalmi; Platinum to Diamond)
• Sarfaraz Ahmed (Quetta Gladiators; Platinum to Gold)

“The teams will now put forward relegation requests for the players before finalising retentions. After relegation requests are floated, all teams are given an opportunity to meet the player’s base category. If the player’s base category is not matched, the player may be relegated to a category below his base category,” the PCB said in a press release.

“U-23 players cannot be part of a squad as an emerging player for more than two years unless they have played nine or less matches in those two years.

“The player lists have been shared with the six franchises for the tournament to be played across four venues from February 9 to March 19, 2023.”

Local category player renewals

Islamabad United — Asif Ali, Shadab Khan (both Platinum), Hasan Ali, Wasim Jr (both Diamond), Azam Khan, Danish Aziz, Faheem Ashraf, Musa Khan, Waqas Maqsood, Zafar Gohar, Zahid Mehmood, (all Gold), Athar Mahmood, Mohammad Akhlaq, Nasir Nawaz (all Silver), Mohammad Huraira, Mubasir Khan and Zeeshan Zamir (Emerging)

Karachi Kings — Babar Azam, Imad Wasim (both Platinum), Mohammad Amir (Diamond), Amir Yamin, Mir Hamza, Sahibzada Farhan, Sharjeel Khan, Usman Shinwari (all Gold), Mohammad Ilyas, Muhammad Imran Jr, Rohail Nazir, Umaid Asif (all Silver), Faisal Akram, Mohammad Taha, Qasim Akram and Talha Ahsan (all Emerging)

Lahore Qalandars — Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi (all Platinum), Mohammad Hafeez (Diamond), Abdullah Shafique (Gold), Ahmad Daniyal Latif, Akif Javed, Imran Randhawa, Kamran Ghulam, Maaz Khan, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf (all Silver), Syed Faridoun Mahmood and Zaman Khan (both Emerging)

Multan Sultans — Mohammad Rizwan (Platinum), Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood (all Diamond), Anwar Ali, Imran Khan Snr, Rumman Raees, Sohaib Maqsood (all Gold), Rizwan Hussain (Silver), Aamer Azmat, Abbas Afridi and Ihsanullah (Emerging)

Peshawar Zalmi — Haider Ali (Platinum), Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz (both Diamond), Aamer Jamal, Amad Butt, Arshad Iqbal, Hussain Talat, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Haris, Sohail Khan, Usman Qadir (all Gold), Ali Majid, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Amir Khan, Mohammad Umar, Salman Irshad, Sameen Gul, Tayyab Tahir (all Silver), Arish Ali Khan, Sirajuddin and Yasir Khan (Emerging)

Quetta Gladiators — Mohammad Nawaz (Platinum), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah (all Diamond), Ahsan Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal (all Gold), Ali Imran, Ghulam Mudassar, Hassan Khan, Khurram Shahzad (all Silver), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ashar Qureshi and Mohammad Shahzad (all Emerging)