Four Major Players Ignored in Pakistan Super League 2021 Draft

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 is now less than 30 days away and the teams are finalising their preparations.

On Sunday, the drafting process for the sixth edition of the competition took place in Lahore where franchises completed their roster.

Just like every season, some notable players were ignored for the competition on different grounds.

We identified four major individuals who will not be taking part in this year’s PSL.

Ahmed Shehzad

Ahmed Shehzad is a renowned name in Pakistan cricket but he was unsold in the drafting process on Sunday.

The right-hander, who till now is the only Pakistan batsman to score a century across all three formats, had a horrid time with the bat in the 2020 edition where he only managed to score 61 runs in seven matches at an average of just 8.71 which led his franchise Quetta Gladiators to release him.

In total, Shehzad has played 45 matches in the PSL where he managed to score 1,077 runs at an average of 26.26, which included nine half-centuries.

Junaid Khan

Junaid Khan is another famous player who was ignored in the drafting process for this year’s PSL.

The left-arm pacer could not live up to the expectations in the previous editions where he only managed to play three times in two seasons and claimed three wickets at an economy-rate very close to 10 runs per over.

Those numbers were never going to be good enough and he went unsold in this year’s drafting process.

Khan has played 27 matches in the PSL and has 26 wickets to his name at an average of 30 along with an economy-rate of 8.47.

Umer Khan

Umer Khan is termed as one of the most highly-rated spinners in the country but he went unsold as well.

The left-arm spinner was released by Karachi Kings where he could not cement his spot in the starting XI in the presence of captain Imad Wasim, who himself is a left-arm spinner.

Khan had a knack of claiming important wickets and has already dismissed the likes of Mohammad Hafeez, Liam Livingstone, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Luke Ronchi and Shoaib Malik in his short career in the 20-over format.

The 21-year-old has played only 17 matches in PSL where he managed to claim 19 wickets at an average of 20.89 along with an impressive economy-rate of 7.78.

Abdullah Shafique

Abdullah Shafique is the last in the list of most notable absentees from the PSL 2021.

The right-hander made his mark in the shortest format of the game with a century in the National T20 Cup which led to his selection in the national team for the series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand.

However, with an unimpressive start to his career in international cricket, Shafique could not impressive any of the franchises and went unsold.