ISLAMABAD: The cricket franchise of the House of Zalmi, Benoni Zalmi, on Sunday signed Wahab Riaz and Umar Akmal for $0.115 million and $0.1 million respectively, for the upcoming Global T20 League which will be held under the aegis of Cricket South Africa (CSA). The House of Zalmi, which has already made a mark with its team Peshawar Zalmi lifting the Pakistan Super League (PSL) trophy this year, launched its second cricket franchise Benoni Zalmi for Global T20 League earlier this month. The drafting process of the Global T20 League was held in Capetown, where Benoni Zalmi hired Riaz and Akmal. All rounder Imad Wasim was picked up by Stellenbosch Monarchs for $85,000, while Anwar Ali – currently out of the national squad – was hired by NMBH for $0.1 million.
South Africa’s most successful skipper and master batsman Graeme Smith will be the coach of Benoni Zalmi, the Pakistan outfit that will be participating in the Global T20 League. On Sunday all eight teams of the Global T20 League picked their squads in a much-awaited draft at Cape Town. The teams will be hosted at eight centres around South Africa: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, PretÂoria, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Stellenbosch and Benoni. The marquee players already signed up include former England batsman Kevin Pietersen, current England limited overs players Eoin Morgan and Jason Roy, and ex-internationals Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) and Chris Gayle (West Indies). Almost 400 players from 10 countries had confirmed their interest in being part of the draft.
