Retentions and Draft Pick Order Unveiled for KPL’s Season 2

The seven franchises of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) have announced their retentions ahead of the second edition of the tournament. The tournament will feature top cricketing stars such as Ahmed Shehzad, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Amir, Shoaib Malik, and Shahid Afridi.

Defending champions, Rawalakot Hawks (RH), announced a total of four retentions, all in the top four categories. They had already announced Ahmed Shehzad as their Platinum 1 player while they went on to retain Hussain Talat in Platinum 2, Asif Afridi in Diamond 1, and Zaman Khan in Diamond 2 categories.

Overseas Warriors (OW) retained explosive wicket-keeper batter, Azam Khan, and Kamran Ghulam in the Platinum categories while they also retained Sohail Khan in the Diamond 2 category.

Last year’s runners-ups, Muzaffarabad Tigers (MT), carried out a big trade with Bagh Stallions (BS) in the platinum category as they brought in Iftikhar Ahmed in place of Sohaib Maqsood. They further went on to retain Anwar Ali, Zeeshan Ashraf, and Arshad Iqbal in Diamond 2, Gold 1, and Gold 2 categories respectively.

Bagh Stallions retained the likes of Amir Yamin and Mohammad Imran Jr. along with Sohaib Maqsood. Kotli Lions (KL) retained Ahsan Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Irfanullah Shah, and Khalid Usman while Mirpur Royals (MR) retained Salman Irshad, Mohammad Akhlaq, and Abrar Ahmed.

Jammu Janbaz (JJ), the latest team to be included in the tournament, were unable to make any retentions but they did enlist Sharjeel Khan as their icon player ahead of the new season.

The draft for the second edition of the tournament is set to be held on 21 July as the teams look to build their squads to challenge for the coveted title.

Here is the draft pick order: