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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
SIKANDAR Raza will be the only Zimbabwean international playing in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) after he was retained by Lahore Qalandars ahead of the player draft conducted on Monday.
A total of 21 Zimbabwean players — excluding Raza — went under the hammer during the draft for the 10th edition of the PSL, one of the biggest franchise tournaments in the world. However, none of the 21 players were picked by any of the six PSL franchises.
Of the 21 players, two were in the diamond category, three in gold, and 16 in the silver category.
In the diamond category were Blessing Muzarabani and Ryan Burl, while Dion Myers, Nick Welch, and Sean Williams were in the gold category.
The 16 players in the silver category were Antum Naqvi, Arinshto Vezha, Brad Evans, Brian Bennett, Craig Ervine, Faraz Akram, Johnathan Campbell, Richard Ngarava, Richmond Mutumbami, Solomon Mire, Tanaka Chivanga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Tawanda Maposa, Tinashe Muchawaya, Tinotenda Maposa, and Trevor Gwandu.
At Lahore Qalandars, the two-time tournament winners, Raza will be playing alongside the likes of New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell, who was the first draft pick, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abdullah Shafique, Asif Ali, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, and Kusal Perera.
Some of the overseas stars set to take part in the forthcoming tournament are David Warner (Australia, Karachi Kings), Kane Williamson (New Zealand, Karachi Kings), Rilee Rossouw (South Africa, Quetta Gladiators), Shai Hope (West Indies, Multan Sultans), Johnson Charles (West Indies, Multan Sultans), Rassie Van Der Dussen (South Africa, Islamabad United), Jason Holder (Islamabad United), and Alzarri Joseph (West Indies, Peshawar Zalmi).
Meanwhile, Burl has been enjoying a purple patch in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), where he has been among the leading run-scorers for his team, Durbar Rajshahi.
In six innings, Burl has scored 179 runs, with a best of an unbeaten 55 not out and a couple of scores in the 40s. He also has three wickets to his name.
In his team’s last outing against Dhaka Capital on Sunday, Burl scored a gallant 47 not out as they suffered a heavy 149-run defeat. Batting first, Dhaka Capital posted a mammoth 254/1 in their 20 overs, thanks to two centuries from Tanzid Hasan (108 runs off 68 deliveries) and Das (125 runs not out off 55 balls).
Burl and his team were bowled out for just 105 runs in 15.2 overs, with the Zimbabwean all-rounder top-scoring with 47 not out off 32 balls.
He was the only batter to score more than 20 runs in their innings. Next up for Burl and his team is a clash against Sylhet Strikers on Friday. — @brandon_malvin
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