Ahead of the Pakistan Super League 2020 (PSL T20), the fifth edition of the T20 league, franchises have retained and released some players. The PSL 2020 Players Draft will take place on December 06 and teams will be looking to fine-tune their respective squads. Apparently, franchises have retained some of their key players. Players like Shahid Afridi, Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, and Fakhar Zaman have been retained by their respective franchises. Former Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed has been retained by Quetta Gladiators.

Interestingly, some prominent overseas names like AB de Villiers, Steve Smith, Andre Russell and Corey Anderson won’t be available for the upcoming season of PSL and thus have been let go by their respective franchises. Yuvraj Singh to Play in Pakistan Super League Post Retirement? BCCI Likely to Give Clearance: Report.

Current Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has made himself unavailable for the upcoming season as well. The former Islamabad United captain was with Peshwar Zalmi last season. Another foreign prominent players released by franchises include Alex Hales, Ravi Bopara, Brendan Taylor, Carlos Brathwaite, and Nepal spinner Sandeep Lamichhane.

Full list of players retained and released by Islamabad United

Players retained: Shadab Khan (Platinum), Faheem Ashraf (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Asif Ali (Diamond), Luke Ronchi (Gold as Player Mentor), Hussain Talat (Gold), Amad Butt, Musa Khan and Rizwan Hussain (Silver).

Players released: Alex Hales, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton, Ian Bell, Mohammad Sami, Nasir Nawaz, Philip Salt, Rumman Raees, Sahibzada Farhan, Samit Patel, Waqas Maqsood, Wayne Parnell, Zafar Gohar, and Zahir Khan.

Full list of players retained and released by Karachi Kings

Players retained: Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir (both Platinum), Imad Wasim (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Iftikhar Ahmed (Diamond), Aamir Yamin (Gold), Usama Mir (Silver) and Umer Khan (Emerging).

Players released: Aaron Summers, Abrar Ahmed, Ali Imran, Awais Zia, Ben Dunk, Colin Ingram, Colin Munro, Jaahid Ali, Liam Livingstone, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravi Bopara, Sikandar Raza, Sohail Khan and Usman Shinwari (transferred to Lahore Qalandars).

Full list of players retained and released by Lahore Qalandars

Players retained: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez (both Platinum), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), David Wiese, Usman Shinwari (Diamond, Usman transferred from Karachi Kings), Haris Rauf, Sohail Akhtar (both Gold), Salman Butt (Silver).

Players released: AB de Villiers, Agha Salman, Aizaz Cheema, Anton Devcich, Asela Gunaratne, Brendan Taylor, Carlos Brathwaite, Corey Anderson, Gohar Ali, Hardus Viljoen, Haris Sohail, Hassan Khan, Mohammad Imran, Rahat Ali, Riki Wessels, Ryan ten Doeschate, Saad Ali, Sandeep Lamichhane, Umair Masood, Yasir Shah.

Full list of players retained and released by Multan Sultans

Players retained: Mohammad Irfan (Platinum), Shahid Afridi (Diamond as Player Mentor), James Vince (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Junaid Khan (Gold), Ali Shafiq, Shan Masood (both Silver) and Mohammad Ilyas (Emerging). PSL 2020: PCB Franchises Wish to Conduct the Next Season of the Tournament at Home.

Players released: Andre Russell, Chris Green, Dan Christian, Hammad Azam, Joe Denly, Johnson Charles, Laurie Evans, M. Irfan Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Junaid, Nicholas Pooran, Numan Ali, Qais Ahmed, Shakeel Ansar, Shoaib Malik, Steve Smith, Tom Moores, and Umar Siddiq.

Full list of players retained and released by Peshawar Zalmi

Players retained: Hasan Ali, Kieron Pollard, Wahab Riaz (all Platinum), Kamran Akmal (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Daren Sammy (Gold as Player Mentor), Imam-ul-Haq (Gold) and Umar Amin (Silver).

Players released: Andre Fletcher, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Ibtesam Sheikh, Jamal Anwar, Khalid Usman, Lendl Simmons, Liam Dawson, Misbah-ul-Haq, Nabi Gul, Sameen Gul, Samiullah, Sohaib Maqsood, Tymal Mills, Umaid Asif, Waqar Salamkheil and Wayne Madsen. Sri Lanka Cricket Board's Security Delegation To Visit Pakistan to Find out Feasibility of Test Series.

Full list of players retained and released by Quetta Gladiators

Players retained: Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed (both Platinum), Shane Watson (Diamond as Player Mentor), Ahmed Shehzad (Diamond), Umar Akmal (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Mohammad Hasnain (Gold), Ahsan Ali and Naseem Shah (Silver).

Players released: Anwar Ali, Danish Aziz, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Fawad Ahmed, Ghulam Mudassar, Harry Gurney, Jalat Khan, Max Waller, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Azam Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Rilee Rossouw, Saud Shakil, and Sohail Tanvir.

PSL 2020 is expected to be played in Pakistan completely. Last season few first round matches and playoffs including final were held in Lahore and Karachi.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 04, 2019 01:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).