Pakistan Super League (PSL) teams have announced their retained players for the first time ahead of the PSL auction and there have been some surprising decisions. The biggest surprise came from the Sultans of Multan.
Multan Sultans surprised everyone before the PSL auction
Multan Sultans did not retain a single player and released everyone including their captain Mohammad Rizwan. They are the only team to go into the PSL Auction 2026 with a completely empty squad. The auction will take place on February 11.
However, new teams Sialkot Stallions and Hyderabad are yet to announce their retentions. They will release their list by 7th February. Well, Peshawar Zalmi, Lahore Qalandars, Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings have retained four players each.
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Islamabad United have retained only three players. Star players Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed and Hasan Ali have all been placed in the platinum category by their teams.
Big stars have been retained in Pakistan Super League teams
Babar will continue his Pakistan Super League journey with Peshawar Zalmi, Shaheen will remain with Lahore Qalandars, Shadab will remain with Islamabad United, Abrar Ahmed will remain with Quetta Gladiators and Hasan Ali will continue to play for Karachi Kings in the tournament.
Lahore Qalandars have retained Shaheen Afridi along with Abdullah Shafiq in the Diamond category, Sikandar Raza in the Gold category and Mohammad Naim in the Silver category. Quetta Gladiators focused heavily on spin, keeping Abrar Ahmed and Usman Tariq as their top picks.
They retained Hasan Nawaz in the gold and young left-hander Shamil Hussain in the emerging category. Peshawar Zalmi will be joined by Babar Azam in Diamond, Sufiyan Muqeem in Gold, Abdul Samad in Gold and Ali Raza as emerging players.
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Islamabad United left Salman Irshad with Shadab Khan on gold and USA wicketkeeper-batsman Andries Ghouse on silver. Islamabad United did not retain anyone in the platinum or emerging categories. Karachi Kings retained Abbas Afridi in Diamond, Khushdil Shah in Gold and Hasan Ali with Saad Baig as emerging player.
PSL sets two-year contracts, team cap and budget rules ahead of auction
All retained players and those selected in the auction will get a two-year contract. Each team can have a total of 16 to 20 players, including five to seven foreign players. Each team must also include at least one local under-23 player who has not played PSL before.
Each Pakistan Super League team has PKR 450 million to spend, which can go up to PKR 505 million. Teams can also sign a single player outright and Sialkot Stallions have already done so by signing Steve Smith.
Team-wise complete retention with player categories:
Lahore Qalandars
- platinum: Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Diamond: Abdullah Shafiq
- Sleep: Sikandar Raza
- silver: Mohammad Naeem
Quetta Gladiators
- platinum: Abrar Ahmed
- Diamond: Osman Tariq
- Sleep: Hasan Nawaz
- Emerging: Shamil Hussain
islamabad united
- platinum: Shadab Khan
- Sleep: salman irshad
- silver: Andries Gus
Peshawar Zalmi
- platinum: Babar Azam
- Diamond: Sufyan Moqim
- Sleep: Abdul Samad
- Emerging: Ali Raza
karachi kings
- platinum: Hasan Ali
- Diamond: Mohammad Abbas Afridi
- Sleep: happy shah
- Emerging: Saad Baig
