DUBAI: All five teams participating in the Pakistan Super League have been told by the Pakistan Cricket Board to nominate possible replacements for foreign players, in the event that any existing foreign players withdraw from the Lahore final.
The overseas players’ draft, which was initially scheduled to take place on February 22, has been deferred. Instead of the so-called ‘redraft’, the two teams which qualify for the PSL final in Lahore will name their foreign players (who are willing to travel to Pakistan for the final) on March 4.
After every team has put forward some names of foreign players as possible replacements from the list, a central pool will be created comprising the possible replacements. The two teams which qualify for the final will then select their replacements from the central pool, if needed.
According to a source privy to the matter, there will also be the option for a foreign player, whose team fails to qualify for the final, to be drafted to one of the two teams which qualify for the final.
There will also be overlaps in instances where more than one team nominates the same replacement. In such a case, the replacement will be redirected to the central pool from which the two finalist teams will eventually nominate their replacement.
So far, all the teams and the existing foreign players and local players alike are focused on making it to the playoffs. Those foreign players who were interviewed so far by this correspondent on whether they will be travelling to Lahore have reiterated the same: their goal, first and foremost, is to reach the playoffs and then the final. The decision to travel to Lahore, they said, will be made once their team qualifies for the final in Lahore, scheduled to be held on March 5.
