Six Pakistani Players Picked in LPL 2026 Draft

Six Pakistani players have been picked for the 2026 Lanka Premier League (LPL), with franchises selecting talent across platinum, gold, classic, and icon-level categories.

The player draft for the sixth edition of the tournament was held in Colombo on June 1, where Pakistani players once again drew strong interest from teams.

Galle Galants picked Mohammad Nawaz in the platinum category and Akif Javed in the gold category.
Colombo Kaps selected Shahnawaz Dahani in the gold category and Mohammad Haris in the classic category.

Dambulla Sixers added Sahibzada Farhan, who had already been signed directly in the icon category before the draft, while Mohammad Wasim Jr was picked in the gold category.

Pakistani Players Picked for LPL 2026

Pakistan also had a strong overall presence in the draft pool. A total of 42 Pakistani players were available for selection, including Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Shan Masood, Mohammad Haris, Abdullah Shafique, Usama Mir, Iftikhar Ahmed, Usman Khan, Sufiyan Muqeem, Azam Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Akif Javed, Hassan Nawaz, Imam-ul-Haq, Zaman Khan, and Maaz Sadaqat among others.

However, four Pakistani players were withdrawn before the draft: Shadab Khan, Saim Ayub, Farhan Yousaf, and Shamyl Hussain.

A total of 421 players entered the LPL 2026 draft, including 179 Sri Lankan players and 242 overseas players. The Sri Lankan group included national, domestic, and emerging cricketers available for selection.

The draft was held across multiple categories, including Platinum, Gold, Classic, Emerging, and Associate Stars.

According to the category breakdown shared for the draft, the local player pool included 17 platinum players, 34 gold players, 80 classic players, and 48 emerging players. The overseas pool included 31 platinum players, 64 gold players, 99 classic players, and 48 associate stars.

The 2026 Lanka Premier League is scheduled to run from July 17 to August 8.