Will Lahore Qalandars pick Fakhar Zaman during PSL 9 draft?

Lahore Qalandars’ star batter Fakhar Zaman was not retained by the franchise in the retention list of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine published by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday and there have been speculations about the future of the 33-year-old.

Qalandars retained eight players and Fakhar wasn’t a part of that contention meaning that the Mardan-born will go into draft where any team can pick him.

However, as per sources, the defending champions will acquire Fakhar’s services once again in the PSL 9 Draft using the Right to Match (RTM) card.

Qalandars have the sixth pick in the Platinum category while Multan Sultans have first. If Fakhar is picked by any franchise in Platinum then the two-time PSL champions will use the RTM card and pick the 33-year-old in Platinum.

The franchise that had picked Zaman will get another pick in the same category.

Chief Operating Officer (COO) Lahore Qalandars Sameen Rana has confirmed that Fakhar Zaman is part of the Qalandars family.

“Fakhar Zaman is part of our family. Releasing him is part of our strategy,” said Rana.

It is worth mentioning that the Qalandars would also have to pay the RTM fee, which is $10,000.

It must be noted that the PCB released the list of all the retained players by all six franchises on Thursday where many big and important names were not kept by their franchises.

Karachi Kings didn’t hold star pacer Mohammad Amir, Islamabad United decided to release power hitter Asif Ali, off-spinner Mohammad Nawaz wasn’t retained by Quetta Gladiators while Peshawar Zalmi decided to send pacer Arshad Iqbal to the draft.

It must be noted that Islamabad had the first pick in Platinum which they traded with Quetta in exchange for in-demand pacer Naseem Shah along with two players, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Wasim Junior.

Quetta then continued the trade process and brought back Rilee Russouw in a swap deal with the Sultans where Iftikhar Ahmed, along with the first pick in Platinum, went to the 2021 PSL winners.

Multan now have the first pick in the Platinum round as well as Silver.