LAHORE: A total of five franchises on Friday, made changes to their squads in the Replacement Draft ahead of the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9.
2020 champions Karachi Kings brought in Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani as a full replacement for England’s Jamie Overton while Fawad Ali came in as a partial replacement for New Zealand’s Tim Seifert.
Defending champions Lahore Qalandars also made two changes to their roster as Ireland’s Lorcan Tucker and Pakistan’s Salman Fayyaz partially replaced England’s Dan Lawrence and Sri Lanka’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa respectively.
Besides the two arch-rivals, former champions Quetta Gladiators also made two changes to their lineup as they roped in Usman Tariq (Reserved) and Umar Amin as a partial replacement for Wanindu Hasaranga.
On the other hand, Multan Sultans partially replaced Reece Topley with Olly Stone while Peshawar Zalmi named England’s Paul Walter as a full replacement for Sufyan Muqeem.
Teams strengthen rosters in the Replacement Draft!
Take a look at the picks made by the franchises ⬇️#HBLPSL9 #KhulKeKhel https://t.co/X3Tt9gJghQ
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 16, 2024
It is pertinent to mention that the much-anticipated PSL 9 will kick off with a glittering opening ceremony at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Saturday.
The grand opening ceremony will feature renowned artists Ali Zafar and Aima Baig, who collaborated to craft the PSL 9 Anthem, Khul Ke Khel, alongside Arif Lohar and Noori.
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Besides this, the spectators can also witness fireworks and an enthralling laser show.
The opening ceremony will commence at 6:30 PM (PST) ahead of the PSL 9 curtain raiser between defending champions Lahore Qalandars and two-time champions Islamabad United.
The PSL 9 will be played in four cities – Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi – with the final of the six-team tournament taking place at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on 18 March.
Over the course of the 34-match tournament, Karachi will host 11 matches, including the Qualifier, two Eliminators and the final.
Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and Rawalpindi’s Pindi Cricket Stadium will each host nine matches, while fans in Multan, the city of saints, will witness five matches.
READ: Karachi Kings’ Mir Hamza aims for winning start to PSL 9 campaign