Like every year in PSL, every team has the right to retain their top players from the last season and release others. So, other franchises can pick them in the next PSL draft. PCB has released the PSL retained players list for season 8 (2023).
PSL Retention Rules
A side can gather up to 8 players during the trade and retention frame before the HBL PSL Player Draft, which allows it to increase the squad side to 18 players -( three from each of the Platinum, Diamond, and Gold categories, five from Silver, two from Emerging, and up to two from Supplementary.
In PSL, teams can pick players in 2 different phases. The first Phase is Trade & Retention Frame, where the team can retain players from last season and exchange players with other franchises called Trade.
How many players can a team retain in each category? Here is the Rule:
| Category | No. of Players |
|---|---|
| Gold | 03 |
| Platinum | 03 |
| Diamond | 03 |
| Silver | 05 |
| Emerging | 02 |
| Supplementary | Up to 01 or 02 |
Top Players Retain by PSL Teams
Rashid Khan and Shaheen Afridi are the only players in the Platinum category retained by Lahore Qalandars. While Multan Sultan has Muhammad Rizwan, Islamabad United has Shadab Khan, and Quetta Galditor maintains Muhammad Nawaz.
Quetta Gladiators Retentions in PSL 8
As mentioned above, Quetta has retained Muhammad Nawaz in the platinum category. Jason Roy and Iftikhar Ahmad in diamond, Sarfraz Ahmad and Muhammad Hussnain in the gold category, and Will Smeed in Silver. At the same time, Naveen Ul Haq and Umar Akmal will join as team mentors.
Peshawar Zalmi Retentions in PSL 8
Peshawar Zalmi traded with Karachi Kings for Babar Azam in exchange for Shoaib Malik and Haider Ali in the Platinum category. Sherfane Rutherford and Wahab Riaz are retained in diamond, Muhammad Haris in gold, Aamir Jamal as a brand ambassador, and Salman Irshad and Tom-Kohler Cadmore in the silver category.
Multan Sultans Retentions in PSL 8
Everyone’s favorite and number two batter in ICC T20I, Muhammad Rizwan, is retained in the platinum category by Multan Sultans. Other players are Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw, Shan Masood in diamond, Shahnawaz Dahani as a brand ambassador, Tim David in Gold, Abbas Afridi, and Ihsanullah in the emerging player’s category.
Lahore Qalandars Retentions in PSL 8
Lahore Qalandars retained Shaheed Shah Afridi and Rashid Khan in Platinum Category. David Wiese in diamond, Abdullah Shafiq in gold, Harry Brook and Kamran Ghulam in Silver, and Zaman Khan in the emerging class.
Karachi Kings Retentions in PSL 8
Haider Ali is traded from Peshawar Zalmi for Babar Azam in the Platinum category. Imad Wasim and Muhammad Amir are retained in the diamond category, while Shoaib Malik is exchanged for Babar in the diamond category. Amir Yamin, Sharjeel Khan, and Mir Hamza are in the silver category, and Qasim Akram is in the emerging category.
Islamabad United Rtensions in PSL 8
Islamabad United retains vice-captain of the Pakistan Cricket team and IU skipper Shadab Khan for PSL 8 in 2022. Asif Ali will be the brand ambassador for Islamabad United, Wasim Junior is retained in Diamond, and Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, and Hassan Ali in Gold. At the same time, Kavi batter Colin Munro and Irish Opener Paul Stirling will join PSL 8 in the silver category.
Overseas Players Retained in PSL 8
In Total, 12 players are retained by eight PSL franchises; QG and LQ kept the most overseas players. Both sides decided to go with three overseas players from last season.
Quetta Gladiators retain Jason Roy, Naveen Ul Haq, and Will Smeed, Sherfane Rutherford and Tom-Kohler Cadmore by Peshawar Zalmi, Rilee Rossouw and Tim David by Multan Sultans, Rashid Khan, David Wiese and Harry Brooks by Lahore Qalandars, and Colin Munro and Paul Stirling are retained by Islamabad United. In the meantime, Karachi King’s retention of PSL 2022 players is Zero.
Babar Azam Trade in PSL 2023
PSL 2023 retention list is out, and many of the biggest trades surprised every PSL Fan. After Karachi Kings, Babar Azam’s next destination in PSL is Peshawar Zalmi as Zalmi traded for Babar Azam with Karachi Kings in exchange for Shoaib Malik and Haider Ali. So, Babar will play PSL 8 from Peshawar Zalmi.
Read More: Babar Azam PSL career
How Many Foreign Players Registered for PSL 8 in 2023?
A total of 493 players, of which 29 are in the Platinum category and 81 in Diamond, from both full member and associate nations, have made themselves available for the player draft.
The maximum number of foreign players to register is from England (140) while there are 60 from Sri Lanka, 43 from Afghanistan, 38 from West Indies, 28 from Bangladesh, 25 from South Africa, 14 from Australia, 11 from Zimbabwe, and nine from Ireland.
