Qatar-owned Lahore Qalandars sign Gayle, Bravo

Agencies/LahoreQatar-owned Lahore Qalandars have chosen flamboyant West Indian all-rounder Chris Gayle as teams began picking players for the Pakistan Super League yesterday.Former West Indies captain Gayle, one of the most devastating batsmen in the world, will be joined by other West Indians Dwayne Bravo and Kevon Cooper besides Pakistanis Umar Akmal, Mohamed Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Sohaib Maqsood, Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman and South African Cameron Delport.The second phase of drafting will be held today when players belonging to the ‘Silver’ and ‘Emerging’ categories will be inducted into the league’s five franchises.Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi will play for Peshawar Zalmi, while Shoaib Malik will turn out for the Karachi Kings.Former England batsman Keven Pietersen was picked by Quetta Gladiators, while Aussie allrounder Shane Watson went to Islamabad United.Pakistan’s highest run-getter in Tests, Younis Khan, was unpicked by any of the franchises.The PSL player list includes 137 Pakistani and 171 foreign players. The players have been divided into five categories — Platinum , Diamond, Gold, Silver and Emerging.Each team were required to pick three players per category from each of the top three categories (Platinum, Diamond and Gold). While drafting of two emerging players will be mandatory, a team will also be able to pick up to five players from the ‘Silver’ category in order to complete the squad.Each team will have a minimum of four foreign players in the playing 11. The inaugural edition of the PSL is scheduled to take place from Feb 4-23, 2016 in Dubai and Sharjah. The teams as they stand at the end of the Platinum, Diamond and Gold rounds:Islamabad United: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Andre Russell, 3 Misbah-ul-Haq, 4 Samuel Badree, 5 Mohammad Irfan, 6 Brad Haddin, 7 Sharjeel Khan, 8 Mohammad Sami, 9 Khalid LatifHead coach: Dean JonesKarachi Kings: 1 Shoaib Malik, 2 Shakib Al Hasan, 3 Sohail Tanvir, 4 Imad Wasim, 5 Ravi Bopara, 6 Lendl Simmons, 7 Mohammad Amir, 8 Bilawal Bhatti, 9 James VinceHead coach: Mickey ArthurPeshawar Zalmi: 1 Shahid Afridi, 2 Wahab Riaz, 3 Darren Sammy, 4 Kamran Akmal, 5 Mohamed Hafeez, 6 Chris Jordan, 7 Tamim Iqbal, 8 Junaid Khan, 9 Jim AllenbyHead coach: Mohammad AkramQuetta Gladiators: 1 Kevin Pietersen, 2 Sarfraz Ahmed, 3 Ahmed Shehzad, 4 Anwar Ali, 5 Jason Holder, 6 Luke Wright, 7 Zulfiqar Babar, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Elton Chigumbura.Head coach: Moin KhanLahore Qalandars: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Bravo, 3 Umar Akmal, 4 Mohamed Rizwan, 5 Yasir Shah, 6 Shoaib Maqsood, 7 Mustafizur Rahman, 8 Kevon Cooper, 9 Cameron Delport.Head coach: Paddy Upton