PCB announced HBL PSL local player category renewal for 2020 season:

HBL Pakistan Super League 2020, the whole nation’s most awaited T20 league, is right around the corner. HBL PSL will once again display the best cricketing talent Pakistan has to offer, as the new categories of local players who took part in the previous season of HBL PSL have been finalized.

Major additions to the Platinum Category for HBL PSL 2020:

Pakistan’s new T20I captain and the top-ranked T20I batsman, Babar Azam is now a part of the Platinum category. Shaheen Shah Afridi, the 19-year-old outstanding bowler has also been promoted to the Platinum category. World’s no.2 and no.4 ranked T20I bowlers: Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan along with Hasan Ali – the leading wicket-taker of HBL PSL 2019 – have now graduated to the Platinum category for the HBL PSL 2020.

#HBLPSL local players category renewed for 2020 season

MORE: https://t.co/JRGvAWSF9q pic.twitter.com/7H4KRYeKBM

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) October 25, 2019

After the completion and announcement of the renewal process, the player recruitment for the upcoming HBL PSL 2020 has also started.

One representative from each of the six franchises that are part of the HBL PSL voted for local player categories as part of the category renewal process. It was not allowed for these franchise representatives to vote for their players. These six teams were also given the right to submit review requests at the end of this entire process. The final list was then reviewed by Head of Player Acquisition and Management Imran Ahmed Khan and National Selection coordinator Nadeem Khan.

PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan about HBL PSL 2020:

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Wasim Khan said that they consider the completion of the category renewal process for the upcoming HBL Pakistan Super League 2020, an important milestone for Pakistan cricket. He expressed his excitement as he declared that this season of HBL PSL will be a truly historic one as all the matches will be played in Pakistan.

Wasim Khan said about HBL PSL that it has become one of the most sought after T20 Leagues in the world. He added that the upcoming season will be even bigger and better than the previous one. He assured the league fans both in Pakistan and around the world that they will enjoy world-class cricket, with top-tier facilities at the stadiums. He also assured that the broadcast will also be of top-quality once the HBL PSL 2020 begins in February next year.

Other than that, there are several factors such as HBL PSL performances, nation team performances, domestic performances and perceived T20 brand value, all of it was considered as part of the two-step player category renewal process for the upcoming season of the tournament. All those players that have played for Pakistan were assigned a base category of Gold. Each team is allowed to retain a maximum of 8 players from their previous season’s roster, according to this year’s draft rules.

Players that are under the age of 23 but have represented Pakistan’s squad before the category finalization process cannot be a part of the Emerging category this season. Players that are Under 23 also cannot be part of the Emerging category for more than two years, unless they have played 3 or less than three matches in these past two years.

All six teams reserve the right to submit relegation requests for the players before finalizing retentions. If a team wants to relegate a player, all teams will have the right to draft the player for the player’s base category. If no team drafts the player for the player’s base category, then the player will be relegated to a category that is below his base category.