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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the shuffle in its player categories for the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). While as many as eight players were promoted, five players faced a demotion. Among the gainers are Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Mohammad Nawaz, and Mohammad Wasim Jr. Meanwhile, veterans like Wahab Riaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Hasan Ali have been demoted.
Talking about the gainers, Mohammad Wasim Jr who plays for Islamabad United has been promoted from Gold to Diamond. Shahnawaz Dahani and Shan Masood both of whom play for Multan Sultans have also moved from Gold to Diamond. Meanwhile, Haider Ali (Peshawar Zalmi; from Diamond to Platinum) and Mohammad Haris (from Silver to Gold), and Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah (Quetta Gladiators; Nawaz from Diamond to Platinum, Naseem from Gold to Diamond) have also got promotions.
Aamer Jamal of Peshawar Zalmi is the other player whose category has been enhanced following his debut for Pakistan against England in the home T20Is. The all-rounder featured in the fifth and sixth T20Is in Lahore, helping Pakistan to win the fifth T20I after conceding eight runs in the final over when England needed 15 runs for victory.
The five players who have been demoted to lower categories are: Hasan Ali (from Platinum to Diamond), Faheem Ashraf (Diamond to Gold) (both Islamabad United), Sohaib Maqsood (Multan Sultans, from Diamond to Gold), Wahab Riaz (Peshawar Zalmi, Platinum to Diamond) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (Quetta Gladiators, Platinum to Gold).
The six 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. U23 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.
Local category player renewals (team-wise):
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)
