Cricket
Umar Farooq, Pakistan correspondent, ESPNcricinfo 6y

FAQs: The Pakistan Super League draft

Cricket

When is the PSL draft scheduled to take place and where?

The PSL draft is set to take place on November 12 at 3pm local time at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

Who gets the first draft pick?

That would be Lahore Qalandars because according to the draft rule, the team that finished last in the previous tournament gets the first pick each round. The side that finished second last gets the second pick, and so on.

Then why is the new franchise, Multan Sultans, getting the last pick in every round?

Playing their first season, Multan Sultans had no players to retain or release, and instead chose nine players from the expansion draft. In other words, they chose nine players from the list of players that other franchises opted to release. That itself was an opportunity to draft up a team of sorts.

According to the rules, five teams from the previous season were given a deadline to retain nine players from their existing contracted players, releasing all others from their roster. Then, Multan were allowed to select players from the list of all released players without any constraint.

Therefore, it was ruled that Multan would get the last pick having enjoyed this advantage, with Peshawar Zalmi getting the second last pick, owing to them having finished top last season.

How will the entry of the sixth team, Multan Sultans, affect the format?

In a sense, the entry of Multan Sultans makes no difference to the format, with the only change being the increase in the number of group games played per side - from eight to 10. The number of overall games before the next round increases from 20 to 30 as a result, with the tournament being played over a few extra days. The number of matches in the playoffs will remain the same, with three games to be played before the finalists are decided.

Why do Peshawar Zalmi get the third pick of the first Gold and both Silver rounds, even though they should get the fifth pick?

That is because Peshawar Zalmi traded Shahid Afridi to Karachi Kings. Instead, they swapped picks in the first Gold and Silver rounds, meaning Peshawar Zalmi get the third pick in both rounds.

In that case, how do Karachi Kings have the first pick of the first round of the Gold category? It was meant for Lahore Qalandars.

Lahore Qalandars traded in Sohail Khan from Karachi Kings in exchange for their first pick quota in the Gold round, in addition to Mohammad Rizwan. And since Karachi had already exchanged their Gold round pick with Peshawar, Lahore had to swap their first pick with pick five in the Gold category.

How many matches will be played in Pakistan? How many in Lahore, how many in Karachi?

The PCB has not released the schedule for the third edition of the tournament yet but had promised that a few matches would be played in Pakistan. The league stage, as yet, is scheduled to be played in the UAE. Lahore is a potential venue for the final and the playoff matches while the National Stadium in Karachi is presently undergoing extensive renovation work, and is reportedly behind schedule with respect to preparedness in time for next year's PSL. Even so, the PCB is bullish about the prospect of some matches taking place in Karachi.

How many players are in the draft?

A massive 501, with 308 foreign players listed. However, the vast majority will go unselected, obviously. Some of the star attractions include Chris Lynn, Imran Tahir, Mitchell Johnson and Mustafizur Rahman. Each team will have a salary cap of $1.2 million for a squad of 20 players.

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