Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi and England star Alex Hales are some of the big names included in the 90 overseas players list who will feature in the inaugural T20 Global League draft to be held this weekend in Cape Town.
The duo will join the eight foreign marquee players who will also be assigned individually to the eight participating franchises. The marquee players, who were unveiled in April, are Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Lasith Malinga, Brendon McCullum, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Kieron Pollard and Jason Roy. On the other hand, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir will be considered as domestic marquee players.
Some other prominent names who have made the cut, are Steven Finn, Ahmed Shehzad, Ben Hilfenhaus, and Saeed Ajmal. Ten Kolpak players will also feature in the draft.
Meanwhile, India is not among the 13 countries from which the players will be featuring in the draft. Players from Afghanistan, Australia, England, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe would be seen plying their trades in this year’s Global T20 League.
“The Player Draft is a major step forward for the T20 Global League, and the anticipation among players, coaches and owners is now clearly visible,” CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.
“The huge interest from players around the world has been phenomenal, and the calibre of players in the draft will make squad selections one for the fans to follow. Fans both here and around the world will be able to join in the excitement as they see the franchises sign up some of the world’s best.
“Gayle, McCullum, Shehzad, Hales, Levi and our own Proteas captain Faf du Plessis – another marquee player – are among those who have scored T20 International centuries. The T20 Global League is now ready for take-off,” Lorgat added.
Meanwhile, a maximum of five international players (including Kolpak players) can be selected in each franchise team. The tournament will be held in November and December this year.
Here is the list of the players featuring in the draft on August 26 and 27:
International marquee players: Lasith Malinga, Brendon McCullum, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Kieron Pollard, Jason Roy, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle
Domestic marquee players: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir
Overseas players:
Afghanistan: Dawlat Zadran
Australia: Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Reardon, Johan Botha
England: Michael Carberry, Alex Hales, Adam Lyth, Gary Balance, Ian Bell, Sam Billings, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, James Vince, Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Mark Wood, Monty Panesar, Adil Rashid
Hong Kong: Anshuman Rath
Ireland: William Porterfield, Kevin O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, George Dockrell
Netherlands: Stephan Myburgh, Ryan ten Doeschate, Roelof van der Merwe
New Zealand: Mitchell McClenaghan, Jeetan Patel
Pakistan:
Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Ahmed Shehzad, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Butt, Sami Aslam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kamran Akmal, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Shahid Afridi, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Sohail Khan.
Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne, Shehan Jayasuriya, Jeewan Mendis, Ramith Rambukwella, Dushmantha Chameera, Dammika Prasad, Suraj Randiv, Sachithra Senanayake, Dilshan Munaweera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Perera
Zimbabwe: Sean Ervine, Elton Chigumbura, Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda
Kolpak players: David Wiese, Colin Ingram, Stiaan van Zyl, Dane Vilas, Cameron Delport, Richard Levi, Marchant de Lange, Hardus Viljoen, Colin Ackermann, Simon Harmer
West Indies: Jonathan Carter, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Danza Hyatt, Jason Mohammed, Devon Thomas, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Ashley Nurse, Veerasammy Permaul, Shane Shillingford
Scotland: Kyle Coetzer