Hyderabad bag Saim Ayub in PSL’s most expensive deal

One of Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) new teams, Hyderabad, have revealed Saim Ayub, Maaz Sadaqat, Usman Khan, and Akif Javed as their retentions ahead of the auction on February 11. The new franchise has struck record-breaking deals with these players, as all of the retention signings will cost Hyderabad a total of PKR 226.8 million.

Saim goes to Hyderabad

Their Platinum pick, Saim Ayub, will earn PKR 126 million, making him the most expensive PSL player yet. He surpasses Shadab Khan, Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Abrar Ahmed, each of whom was retained for PKR 70 million. 

Hyderabad’s Diamond pick is Usman Khan, who will receive PKR 46.2 million, followed by Akif Javed and Maaz Sadaqat, who were roped in for PKR 19.6 million and PKR 35 million in the Gold and Emerging categories, respectively.

Hyderabad fill their pre-auction slots

Saim Ayub and Maaz Sadaqat were released by Peshawar Zalmi, as they retained Babar Azam and Ali Raza in the respective categories. 

On the other hand, both Akif Javed and Usman Khan were part of Multan Sultans until last season. The two players were also released by the franchise, which retained no players from the previous season.

Each PSL team is allowed a purse of PKR 450 million to accommodate retentions and bidding at the auction. This purse can be stretched to PKR 505 million for direct signings, which Hyderabad have already used to sign Marnus Labuschagne. However, the franchise has not revealed the amount paid for the Australian batter.

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