London [UK], Nov 14 : South Africa pacer Dale Steyn and England batsman Jason Roy are a part of 28 players who have registered themselves in the platinum category for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 players draft.
Australian players Ben Cutting and Chriss Lynn have also expressed their desire to take part in the fifth edition of the tournament, ESPNcricinfo reported.
The players who have registered themselves for the draft are from eight cricket-playing nations– seven from England, six South African, five from the West Indies, and three each from Afghanistan and Australia.
Sri Lanka has one player, New Zealand and Nepal have one each. If international commitments clash with the season of PSL, then the availability of the players may be hampered.
Each PSL franchise has the option of retaining up to eight players from their previous line-up. Every team can comprise three players in the platinum category, two players in the diamond and gold category, five in silver, and two emerging players.
The foreign players in the platinum category are as follows:
Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan
Australia: Dan Christian, Ben Cutting and Chris Lynn
England: Moeen Ali, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and Jason Roy
Nepal: Sandeep Lamichhane
New Zealand: Colin Munro
South Africa: Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera
West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard
Over the past few years, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has used the PSL to restore international cricket back home. In 2017, Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore hosted the tournament’s final.
In 2018, four games were held in Lahore and Karachi. The season held earlier this year had eight games played in Karachi alone.
For the 2020 tournament, it has been decided that the entire competition will be held in Pakistan. Four venues–Lahore, Karachi, Multan and Rawalpindi will host 34 games between them.
In the recent cricket series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a few top players from the island nation refused to tour Pakistan citing security concerns.
The players who opted out were — Lasith Malinga, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Janith Perera, Dhananjaya De Silva, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Angelo Mathews, Suranga Lakmal, Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne.
In 2009, the Sri Lankan team was on their way to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for a Test match with Pakistan, when terrorists fired indiscriminately at their bus. That attack left eight people dead and injured seven Sri Lankan players and staff.
Since then, international cricket had eluded Pakistan with no high-profile team visiting the country for a full-length tour.
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