The Pakistan Super League (PSL) conducted its first-ever auction, replacing the draft system that had been used for the first ten seasons since the tournament began in 2016.
This shift in the player selection process comes as the Pakistan Super League (PSL) prepares to expand by adding two new teams — Sialkot Stallionz and Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen.
At the same time, the six existing franchises faced tough decisions, as they were permitted to retain only four core players each.
In total, 879 domestic and international cricketers signed up for the landmark auction. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) placed them into five categories: Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Emerging.
The eight franchises will build their squads by selecting players from these categories, working within a maximum budget of USD 1.6 million.
Unlike the previous draft format, the auction system eliminates a fixed pick order, allowing teams to compete freely in open bidding for their preferred players.
Rules for PSL 11 Players Auction
Player Retentions
- Each team may retain up to 4 players from last year’s HBL PSL 10 roster.
- Maximum 1 player per category (Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, Emerging).
- New franchises may retain up to 4 players from the released player list.
- Cost of retained players is deducted from the team salary cap of PKR 45 crore.
Squad Composition
Squad size: Minimum 16, Maximum 20 players.
Foreign Player Limits
- 16-player squad: Maximum five foreign players.
- 17–18 player squad: Maximum six foreign players.
- 19–20 player squad: Maximum six foreign players.
Local Player Requirement
At least two local U23 uncapped players in the squad.
Base Price & Incrementals
Base Prices by Category
- Platinum – PKR 4.2 Crore
- Diamond – PKR 2.2 Crore
- Gold – PKR 1.1 Crore
- Silver & Emerging – PKR 60 Lakh
Minimum Incremental Bids
- PKR 2.5 Lakh – bids under PKR 1.1 crore base price
- PKR 5 Lakh – bids under PKR 2.2 crore base price
- PKR 10 Lakh – bids under PKR 4.2 crore base price
- PKR 15 Lakh – bids above PKR 4.2 crore base price
Players picked by franchises
As the auction progresses, the players selected by franchises from certain categories, along with the amounts they were signed for, will be listed below.
Accelerated Round
Unsold Category
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Mohammad Tayyab Arif (PKR 60 lacs)
Karachi Kings: Rizwanullah (PKR 60 lacs)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Saad Ali (PKR 60 lacs)
Peshawar Zalmi: Mirza Tahir Baig (PKR 60 lacs)
Lahore Qalandars: Gudakesh Motie (PKR 1.1 crores)
Quetta Gladiators: Tom Curran (PKR 4.2 crores)
Rawalpindi: Shahzaib Khan (PKR 60 lacs)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Rizwan Mehmood (PKR 60 lacs)
Sialkot Stallionz: Muhammad Awais Zafar (PKR 60 lacs)
Sialkot Stallionz: Momin Qamar (PKR 1.075 crores)
Rawalpindi: Mohammad Amir Khan (PKR 60 lacs)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Hunain Shah (PKR 60 lacs)
Rawalpindi: Fawad Ali (PKR 60 lacs)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Asif Mehmood (PKR 60 lacs)
Islamabad United: Dipendra Singh Airee (PKR 60 lacs)
Lahore Qalandars: Tayyab Tahir (PKR 60 lacs)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Sharjeel Khan (PKR 60 lacs)
Islamabad United: Mohammad Hasnain (PKR 77.5 lacs)
Rawalpindi: Kamran Ghulam (PKR 65 lacs)
Karachi Kings: Ihsanullah (PKR 1.05 crores)
Lahore Qalandars: Hussain Talat (PKR 77.50 lacs)
Islamabad United: Haider Ali (PKR 1.50 crores)
Lahore Qalandars: Asif Ali (PKR 60 lacs)
Rawalpindi: Asif Afridi (PKR 2.40 crores)
Lahore Qalandars: Parvez Hossain Emon (PKR 60 lacs)
Peshawar Zalmi: Nahid Rana (PKR 60 lacs)
Rawalpindi: Laurie Evans (PKR 1.1 crores)
Karachi Kings: Muhammad Waseem (PKR 1.1 crores)
Quetta Gladiators: Ben McDermott (PKR 1.1 crores)
Sialkot Stallionz: Shan Masood (PKR 65 lacs)
Quetta Gladiators: Saud Shakeel (PKR 65 lacs)
Rawalipndi: Dian Forrester (PKR 60 lacs)
Sialkot Stallionz: Josh Philippe (PKR 2.30 crores)
Peshawar Zalmi: Iftikhar Ahmed (PKR 1.80 crores)
Karachi Kings: Johnson Charles (PKR 2.00 crores)
Islamabad United: Richard Gleeson (PKR 1.1 crores)
Islamabad United: Imad Wasim (PKR 2.2 crores)
Peshawar Zalmi: Kusal Mendis (PKR 4.2 crores)
Lahore Qalandars: Dasun Shanaka (PKR 75 lacs)
Peshawar Zalmi: Michael Bracewell (PKR 4.20 crores)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Riley Meredith (PKR 4.20 crores)
Peshawar Zalmi: James Vince (PKR 3.00 crore)
Overseas Players
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Hammad Azam (PKR 60 lacs)
Sialkot Stallionz: Ottneil Baartman (PKR 1.10 crores)
Karachi Kings: Khuzaima Bin Tanveer (PKR 90 lacs)
Sialkot Stallionz: Delano Potgieter (PKR 60 lacs)
Sialkot Stallionz: Lachlan Shaw (PKR 60 lacs)
Quetta Gladiators: Bevon Jacobs (PKR 60 lacs)
Islamabad United: Shamar Joseph (PKR 1.10 crores)
Quetta Gladiators: Samuel Harper (PKR 60 lacs)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Shayan Jahangir (PKR 60 lacs)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Hassan Khan (PKR 1.85 crores)
Quetta Gladiators: Brett Hampton (PKR 60 lacs)
Local Players
Peshawar Zalmi: Abdul Subhan (PKR 62.5 lacs)
Islamabad United: Sameen Gul (PKR 60 lacs)
Quetta Gladiators: Saqib Khan (PKR 60 lacs)
Islamabad United: Sameer Minhas (PKR 1.90 crores)
Lahore Qalandars: Mohammad Farooq (PKR 60 lacs)
Karachi Kings: Aqib Ilyas (PKR 60 lacs)
Peshawar Zalmi: Khalid Usman (PKR 60 lacs)
Karachi Kings: Mohammad Hamza Sohail (PKR 62.50 lacs)
Islamabad United: Mir Hamza Sajjad (PKR 70 lacs)
Quetta Gladiators: Khan Zaib (PKR 60 lacs)
Quetta Gladiators: Wasim Akram Jr (PKR 77.5 lacs)
Rawalpindi: Amad Butt (PKR 80 lacs)
Diamond D Spinners
Sialkot Stallionz: Tabraiz Shamsi (PKR 2.2 crores)
Diamond C Fast Bowlers
Sialkot Stallionz: Peter Siddle (PKR 2.50 crores)
Platinum
Karachi Kings: Adam Zampa (PKR 4.50 crores)
Released Bowlers 3
Karachi Kings: Mir Hamza (PKR 2.4 crores)
Islamabad United: Mohammad Wasim Jr (PKR 4.10 crores)
Released Batters 3
Sialkot Stallionz: Ashton Turner (PKR 4.20 crores)
Islamabad United: Mark Chapman (PKR 7.00 crores)
Rawalpindi: Abdullah Fazal (PKR 67.5 lacs)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Muhammad Irfan Khan (PKR 2.90 crores)
Released All-rounders 2
Karachi Kings: Shahid Aziz (PKR 92.5 lacs)
Released Wicketkeepers 2
Lahore Qalandars: Haseebullah Khan (PKR 1.1 crores)
Quetta Gladiators: Khawaja Nafay (PKR 6.50 crores)
Peshawar Zalmi: Mohammad Haris (PKR 2.20 crores)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Kusal Perera (PKR 3.10 crores)
Released Bowlers 2
Lahore Qalandars: Ubaid Shah (PKR 2.70 crores)
Rawalpindi: Mohammad Amir (PKR 5.40 crores)
Islamabad United: Khurram Shahzad (PKR 2.70 crores)
Released Batters 2
Islamabad United: Max Bryant (PKR 1.95 crores)
Rawalpindi: Daryl Mitchell (PKR 8.05 crores)
Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman (PKR 7.95 crores)
Released All-rounders 2
Karachi Kings: Salman Ali Agha (PKR 5.85 crores)
Quetta Gladiators: Jahandad Khan (PKR 2.50 crores)
Lahore Qalandars: Usama Mir (PKR 3.5 crores)
Quetta Gladiators: Arafat Minhas (1.1 crores)
Peshawar Zalmi: Aamir Jamal (PKR 1.9 crores)
Released Bowlers (Spinners) 1
Quetta Gladiators: Faisal Akram (PKR 1.25 crores)
Islamabad United: Mehran Mumtaz (PKR 1.2 crores)
Rawalpindi: Rishad Hossain (PKR 3.00 crores)
Released Wicketkeepers 1
Sialkot Stallionz: Sahibzada Farhan (PKR 5.70 crores)
Karachi Kings: Azam Khan (PKR 3.25 crores)
Released Bowlers 1
Rawalpindi: Naseem Shah (PKR 8.65 crores)
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen: Mohammad Ali (PKR 2.15 crores)
Lahore Qalandars: Haris Rauf (PKR 7.6 crores)
Released Batters 1
Karachi Kings: David Warner (PKR 7.90 crores)
Quetta Gladiators: Rilee Rossouw (PKR 5.50 crores)
Sialkot Stallionz: Jahanzaib Sultan (PKR 60 lacs)
Released All-rounders 1
Islamabad United: Faheem Ashraf (PKR 8.50 crores)
Retention and Direct Signings
Heading into the auction, the franchises were permitted to retain four players each from as many categories, instead of the usual practice of keeping eight cricketers.
The move was aimed to provide a level field for the two new franchises, which were yet to form their respective cores.
Furthermore, for the first time in the history of PSL, the teams were also permitted direct signings ahead of the auction, leading to the inclusion of high-profile foreign cricketers’ induction.
Lahore Qalandars:
Shaheen Shah Afridi (Platinum), Abdullah Shafique (Diamond), Sikandar Raza (Gold), Mohammad Naeem (Silver) and Mustafizur Rahman (Direct Signing).
Karachi Kings:
Hasan Ali (Platinum), Abbas Afridi (Diamond), Khushdil Shah (Gold), Saad Baig (Emerging) and Moeen Ali (Direct Signing).
Islamabad United:
Shadab Khan (Platinum), Salman Irshad (Gold), Andries Gous (Silver) and Devon Conway (Direct Signing).
Peshawar Zalmi:
Babar Azam (Platinum), Sufiyan Muqeem (Diamond), Abdul Samad (Gold), Ali Raza (Emerging) and Aaron Hardie (Direct Signing).
Quetta Gladiators:
Abrar Ahmed (Platinum), Usman Tariq (Diamond), Hasan Nawaz (Gold), Shamyl Hussain (Emerging) and Spencer Johnson (Direct Signing).
Rawalpindi:
Mohammad Rizwan (Platinum), Sam Billings (Diamond), Zaman Khan (Gold) and Yasir Khan (Silver).
Sialkot Stallionz:
Mohammad Nawaz (Platinum), Salman Mirza (Diamond), Ahmed Daniyal (Gold), Saad Masood (Emerging) and Steve Smith (Direct Signing).
Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen:
Saim Ayub (Platinum), Usman Khan (Diamond), Akif Javed (Gold), Maaz Sadaqat (Emerging) and Marnus Labuschagne (Direct Signing).
