Five players promote to Platinum as PSL 11 category renewals confirmed

Our Web Desk
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday confirmed the renewal of player categories for 89 local cricketers ahead of the 11th edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL), promoting five players to the Platinum category.
Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali and Abrar Ahmed were elevated to the top tier. Of the five, Sahibzada Farhan was previously in the Gold category, while the remaining four moved up from Diamond.
Under PSL regulations, each franchise will be allowed to retain a maximum of four players, with no more than one retention permitted from each category. Following the completion of retentions, teams will take part in the first-ever HBL PSL Player Auction to finalise their squads on February 11.
Several established names retained their Platinum status after featuring in the same category in the previous edition of the league. These include Shadab Khan, Naseem Shah, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan, Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Amir.
A total of 11 players have been placed in the Diamond category. Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans have three players each in Diamond while Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings have two apiece. Peshawar Zalmi have one player in the category, while Islamabad United have none. Mohammad Salman Mirza, Sufyan Moqim and Mohammad Wasim Junior are among those who moved up from Gold to Diamond.
The Gold category comprises 32 players, including eight from Karachi Kings, six from Peshawar Zalmi, five each from Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators, and four each from Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars.
In the Silver category, Multan Sultans lead with seven players, followed by Lahore Qalandars with three. Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United have two each while Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings have one player each.
The Emerging category features 14 players, with Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi listing three each. Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans have two players apiece, while Lahore Qalandars have one.
Hunain Shah, Ubaid Shah, Mirza Mamoon Imtiaz, Mohammad Naeem and Mohammad Azab were promoted from Emerging to Silver, while Hasan Nawaz advanced to the Gold category after featuring in Emerging in the previous season.
Team-wise local category renewals:
Islamabad United:
Shadab Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim (Platinum); Azam Khan, Haider Ali, Salman Irshad, Rumman Raees (Gold); Mohammad Faiq, Hunain Shah (Silver); Saad Masood, Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori (Emerging).
Karachi Kings:
Hasan Ali (Platinum); Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Shan Masood (Diamond); Khushdil Shah, Aamir Jamal, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Mir Hamza, Zahid Mehmood, Omair Bin Yousuf, Shahnawaz Dahani, Arafat Minhas (Gold); Mirza Mamoon Imtiaz (Silver); Muhammad Riazullah, Fawad Ali, Saad Baig (Emerging).
Lahore Qalandars:
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf (Platinum); Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Salman Mirza (Diamond); Zaman Khan, Jahandad Khan, Asif Afridi, Asif Ali (Gold); Muhammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Naeem, Mohammad Azab (Silver); Momin Qamar (Emerging).
Multan Sultans:
Mohammad Rizwan (Platinum); Usama Mir, Iftikhar Ahmed, Usman Khan (Diamond); Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Faisal Akram, Akif Javed, Tayyab Tahir (Gold); Yasir Khan, Muhammad Amir Barki, Mohammad Junaid, Humayun Altaf, Ali Imran, Jahanzaib Sultan, Ubaid Shah (Silver); Shahid Aziz, Mohammad Zulkifal (Emerging).
Peshawar Zalmi:
Babar Azam, Saim Ayub (Platinum); Sufyan Moqim (Diamond); Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Ali, Abdul Samad, Hussain Talat, Ahmed Daniyal, Ihsanullah (Gold); Arif Yaqoob, Mehran Mumtaz (Silver); Abdullah Fazal, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat (Emerging).
Quetta Gladiators:
Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Abrar Ahmed (Platinum); Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Usman Tariq (Diamond); Khurram Shahzad, Haseebullah Khan, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Hasan Nawaz, Danish Aziz (Gold); Ali Majid (Silver); Mohammad Zeeshan, Shamyl Hussain (Emerging).