Saim Ayub Among Pakistanis Shortlisted for LPL 2026 Player Draft

More than 100 Pakistani players are understood to have been shortlisted for the upcoming Lanka Premier League (LPL) Player Draft, slated for June 1. Among them, Saim Ayub, Imam-ul-Haq, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Abdullah Shafique, Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr., and Mohammad Haris are notable.

Overseason players list trimmed to 310

The registration window for overseas players opened on May 8 and closed on May 20, with 650 foreign players from all full-member nations applying for the tournament. However, the league announced the list would be trimmed to 310 players.

Among full-member nations, Pakistan's 102 registrations were the highest, followed by the West Indies with 75 applications.

"The highest number of registrations from Full Member nations came from Pakistan, South Africa, the West Indies, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, New Zealand, Australia, and England," the franchise league said in a statement.

"Among the registrations are 102 players from Pakistan, 75 from the West Indies, 66 from South Africa, 48 from Bangladesh, 41 from New Zealand, 24 from Australia, 15 from England, and 12 from India."

Pakistanis in LPL 2024

Only four Pakistan players were part of the league's previous edition: Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Ali, and Mohammad Hasnain, all of whom played for Kandy Falcons.

The tournament will run from July 17 to August 8, with five teams competing for the title, representing the cities of Dambulla, Galle, Colombo, Kandy, and Jaffna. Earlier, Dambulla signed Pakistan's top-order batter Sahibzada Farhan as their Icon Player.

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