Defending champions Karachi Kings have retained Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Islamabad United have kept Pakistan’s white-ball vice-captain Shadab Khan as the two sides also completed a successful trade of Englishman Alex Hales and Colin Ingram of South Africa ahead of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2021 Player Draft, which will take place at the High Performance Centre on Sunday.

Babar was Player of the HBL PSL 2020, while Shadab was named captain of Team of the HBL PSL 2020. Both players who are automatic selections in the national men’s white-ball sides, they will once again be one of the star attractions in the HBL Pakistan Super League 2021 that will be held in Karachi and Lahore from 20 February to 22 March.

As per the event rules, five sides have consumed their allocation of retaining up to eight players except Peshawar Zalmi, which have retained five players.

In the platinum category, last year’s losing finalists Lahore Qalandars have kept Mohammad Hafeez and Shaheen Shah Afridi, Multan Sultans have retained Shahid Afridi and Rilee Rossouw, Peshawar Zalmi have retained Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz and Quetta Gladiators have retained Sarfaraz Ahmed.

Other foreign players retained by the franchises include Ben Dunk, David Wiese (both Lahore Qalandars), Imran Tahir, James Vince (both Multan Sultans), Liam Livingstone (Peshawar Zalmi) and Ben Cutting (Quetta Gladiators).

In the only trade, Hales returns to Islamabad United after playing for Karachi Kings in the 2020 editions, while Colin Ingram is back to Karachi Kings after featuring for them in the 2018 and 2019 events.

Following this trade, Karachi will take Islamabad’s pick in the first round of Diamond, while Islamabad will make their lone Diamond pick in the second round.

Player retention/release/trade update:

Islamabad United (retained) – Alex Hales (Platinum; traded from Karachi Kings); Asif Ali (gold); Colin Munro (diamond); Faheem Ashraf (diamond); Hussain Talat (gold, brand ambassador); Musa Khan (silver, successful relegation request); Shadab Khan (platinum); Zafar Gohar (silver, successful relegation request)

Released – Ahmer Safi Abdullah, Akif Javed, Amad Butt, Dale Steyn, Luke Ronchi (unavailable due to coaching duties in New Zealand), Phil Salt, Rassie van der Dussen, Rizwan Hussain, Rumman Raees and Saif Badar

Karachi Kings (retained) - Amir Yamin (gold); Arshad Iqbal (emerging); Babar Azam (platinum); Colin Ingram (platinum, traded from Islamabad United); Imad Wasim (diamond, successful relation request); Mohammad Amir (platinum); Sharjeel Khan gold) and Waqas Maqsood (silver, brand ambassador)

Released – Ali Khan, Awais Zia, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton, Chris Jordan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mitchell McCleneghan, Mohammad Rizwan, Umaid Asif, Umer Khan and Usama Mir

Lahore Qalandars (retained) - Ben Dunk (gold); David Wiese (diamond); Dilbar Hussain (gold); Fakhar Zaman (diamond, brand ambassador); Haris Rauf (diamond); Mohammad Hafeez; Shaheen Shah Afridi (both platinum) and Sohail Akhtar (silver, successful relegation request)

Released – Abid Ali, Agha Salman, Chris Lynn, Dane Vilas, Dilbar Hussain, Farzan Raja, Jaahid Ali, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Faizan, Salman Butt, Salman Irshad, Samit Patel, Seekkuge Prasanna and Usman Shinwari

Multan Sultans (retained) - Shahid Afridi (platinum), Imran Tahir (diamond, mentor); James Vince (gold); Khushdil Shah (diamond); Rilee Rossouw (platinum); Shan Masood (gold, successful relegation request); Sohail Tanvir (Diamond, brand ambassador); Usman Qadir (gold)

Released – Ali Shafiq, Asad Shafiq, Bilawal Bhatti, Fabian Allen, Junaid Khan, Moeen Ali, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Ravi Bopara, Rohail Nazir, Wayne Madsen and Zeeshan Ashraf

Peshawar Zalmi (retained) - Haider Ali (gold); Kamran Akmal (diamond, successful relegation request); Liam Livingstone (gold); Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz (both platinum)

Released – Aamir Ali, Adil Amin, Amir Khan, Carlos Brathwaite, Hammad Azam, Hassan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kieron Pollard, Lewis Gregory, Liam Dawson (unavailable), Mohammad Mohsin, Rahat Ali, Sikandar Raza, Tom Banton, Umar Amin and Yasir Shah

Quetta Gladiators (retained) - Anwar Ali (silver, successful relegation request); Azam Khan (gold); Ben Cutting (diamond); Mohammad Hasnain (diamond); Mohammad Nawaz (diamond); Naseem Shah (gold); Sarfaraz Ahmed (platinum) and Zahid Mahmood (silver, brand ambassador)

Released – Aarish Ali Khan, Abdul Nasir, Ahmed Shehzad, Ahsan Ali, Fawad Ahmad, Jason Roy (unavailable), Keemo Paul, Khurram Manzoor, Omair bin Yousuf, Shane Watson (retired), Sohail Khan, Tymal Mills (unavailable) and Umar Akmal (suspended).