Fixing still at play at all levels of Cricket, says Waqar Younis By;Asghar Ali Mubarak

Fixing still at play at all levels of Cricket, says Waqar Younis

By;Asghar Ali Mubarak

The former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis made a big statement, ahead of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2018, saying that the fixing still exists in cricket. He also stressed that collective efforts were required to eradicate it. Waqar, who also coached the Pakistan national team, also said that spot-fixing has badly damaged the image of Pakistan cricket. “The roots of fixing are very deep. It still exists at all levels so we need to have joint and concerted efforts to eradicate this menace,” Waqar said while addressing the media during Islamabad United’s press conference.
Waqar is associated as a director of Islamabad United for the third edition of the PSL. He also asserted that he will keep vigil and do special monitoring for the young cricketers regarding spot-fixing.
“My prime task will be to guide the players on and off the field and tell them how to avoid this malpractice as this can easily derail a good career,” he said.
Islamabad United won the inaugural edition of the PSL in 2016, followed by Peshawar Zalmi’s title win in 2017. The third season will start from February 23 with Dubai hosting the opening ceremony.
Waqar also hoped that the slam-bang league will help in the revival of international cricket in Pakistan as more and more foreign stars will be in action in the third edition of the tournament.
Pakistan, in September this year, hosted World XI for a three-match T20 series which was followed by a lone match against Sri Lanka. “With Sri Lanka coming to Lahore, and before that the World XI series and the final of the PSL — that all changed conceptions about Pakistan though we still need to convince the foreign players to tour us and not fear about security,” he signed off.

The Pakistan Super League squads for the third edition of the competition were announced after the PSL Draft that was held in a glittering ceremony at Lahore.
Teams were allowed to retain nine players going into the PSL Draft but with a sixth team added to the mix. Foreign PSL players will be paid USD 10,000 per match to play in Pakistan next season. After having retained nine players before the PSL Draft, the six teams were expected to pick up to 11 more cricketers for the third edition of the tournament using the Draft. These players were picked in the Platinum Round, Diamond Round, Gold Round, Silver Round (two), Emerging Players Round (two) and the Supplementary Player Round (four). Lahore Qalandars picked up three players during the Supplementary Round because their purse was over before they could pick the fourth and they ended up with 19 players. The Karachi Kings decided not to pick up their fourth Supplementary player till after their National Cricketer Hunt was over.
The Islamabad United brought in South African all-rounder JP Duminy as their Platinum pick before selecting Australia and New Zealand cricketer Luke Ronchi, Pakistani all-rounder Fahim Ashraf and England keeper batsman Sam Billings.
Also joining the squad were Zafar Gohar, Sahibzada Farhan and Hussain Talat while the Supplementary players who might not be available for the entire duration of the tournament were Alex Hales, David Willey, Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Hasnain. The euphoria surrounding the inaugural edition of the PSL is coming to a head with the tournament all set to take off in February 2017. Islamabad United are getting ready for the same with some shrewd moves in the player auctions. Fawad Afzal Khan is appointed the brand ambassador for the team.
Players Retained Before PSL Draft:
Mohammad Sami, Andre Russell, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Samuel Badree, Iftikhar Ahmed, Amad Butt, Asif Ali.
It remains to be seen if Andre Russell will return to the Islamabad side after he was banned by anti-doping laws. Steven Finn was named as his replacement.
Islamabad will continue to be led by Pakistan captain Misbal ul Haq in the 2017 PSL. There are some big Pakistan internationals in the side which include Mohammad Irfan, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Sami and Khalid Latif among others.
In what will be exciting news for the Islamabad United fans, Waqar Younis has joined the side as their fast bowling coach. Earlier, they had lost the services of Wasim Akram to Multan Sultans, but the signing up of Waqar will do their side no harm whatsoever.
Although Sami is past his prime and only featured in the Bangladesh Premier League earlier this year, he showed that he still possesses the cunning which helped him establish himself in the national team. Sharjeel has been in the Pakistani international set-up as well while Mohammad Irfan will look to build on it. Irfan has been firing on all cylinders for Pakistan and will look to do the same for Islamabad United.
They have also made very important international additions. Shane Watson, Steven Finn, Samuel Badree, Brad Haddin, and Sam Billings all offer different dimensions in the side. Watson is a world class operator with both bat and ball.
Badree is a proven spinner while Haddin’s retirement means that he will be available for the complete duration of the tournament. The former Australia wicket-keeper has been doing well in the Big Bash League this year. Billings did well in England’s tour of UAE as they took on Pakistan and the team management took note of the same.
The side was bought by the UAE Capital Venture group for $1.5 million US dollars and they have put some very able minds in charge of the side.
Former Pakistan bowler Wasim Akram, who was the mentor of the Islamabad United squad, has decided to quit and join the newest franchise, Multan.
Australia’s Dean Jones is the head coach while Shoaib Akhtar is the bowling coach for Islamabad United.
The team is beautifully balanced on paper and they can go in with a variety of combinations. Also, with the kind of coaches they have, it will be very disappointing if they do not go very far in the tournament. Islamabad United squad 2018 ,
Pakistani Players: Misbah ul Haq (Captain), Mohammad Sami, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Rumman Raees (vice captain), Amad Butt, Faheem Ashraf, Zafar Gohar, Sahibzada Farhan, Hussain Talat
International Players: Andre Russell, Samuel Badree, JP Duminy, Luke Ronchi, Sam Billings
Supplementary Pakistan Players: Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Hasnain
Supplementary Foreign Players: Alex Hales, David Willey

Karachi Kings had earlier announced that Imad Wasim will lead the side and he was joined by South African middle-order batsman Colin Ingram, Aussie fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, England hard-hitting opener Luke Wright and South African all-rounder David Wiese.
The others to feature in the PSL Draft for the Kings were Tabish Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Hasan Mohsin and Colin Munro in the Emerging Category and Eoin Morgan and Saifullah Bangash in the Supplementary Round.
Windies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was the first pick for Peshawar Zalmi and he was joined by Tamim Iqbal, Hammad Azam and Saad Nasim before Taimoor Sultan, Ibtisam Sheikh and Sameen Gul joined him in the line-up.
The Supplementary Round of players saw the Zalmis pick Andre Fletcher, Evin Lewis, Khalid Usman and Muhammad Arif for the side.
With Shane Watson and Carlos Brathwaite joining the Quetta Gladiators in the Platinum and Diamond category, they have a middle-order that consists of two different kinds of all-rounder. The pair will be joined by some other Pakistani cricketers like Rahat Ali, Rameez Raja Jr, Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel and Hassan Khan.
In the Supplementary round of picks, the players who made it to the Gladiators side were Jason Roy, Rashid Khan, Moin Khan (jr.) and Faraz Ahmed.
The Lahore Qalandars were the first team to bring in a Platinum player and they selected Aussie gun batsman, Chris Lynn. He joins his Brisbane Heat teammate and captain Brendon McCullum in the squad along with Mustafizur Rehman, Bilal Asif, Raza Hasan, Sohail Akhtar, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Ghulam Mudassar.
The other Supplementary players who could be available for a few games are Angelo Mathews, Mitchell McClenaghan and Gulraiz Sadaf.
Newly-formed side Multan Sultans brought in Imran Tahir before settling in for middle-order batsman Darren Bravo and Pakistani opener Ahmed Shehzad in their line-up. Mohammad Abbas and Nicholas Pooran were the others picked up before Abdullah Shafique and Saif Badar joined the side from the Emerging category.
Hardus Viljoen, Umar Gul, Umar Siddiq and Ross Whiteley form the Supplementary players.
The 6 Pakistan Super League 2018 teams are:
Teams PSL 2018 Teams Squad players list
Islamabad United
Retained players: Mohammad Sami, Andre Russell, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Samuel Badree, Iftikhar Ahmed, Amad Butt, Asif Ali
Players picked in the draft: JP Duminy, Luke Ronchi, Faheem Ashraf, Sam Billings, Zafar Gohar, Sahibzada Farhan, Hussain Talat
Supplementary players: Alex Hales, David Willey, Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Hasnain
Karachi Kings
Retained players: Imad Wasim (captain), Usman Khan, Usama Mir, Khurram Manzoor, Ravi Bopara, Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Shahid Afridi
Players picked in the draft: Colin Ingram, Mitchell Johnson, Luke Wright, David Wiese, Tabish Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Hasan Mohsin
Supplementary players: Colin Munro, Eoin Morgan, Saifullah Bangash
Peshawar Zalmi
Retained players: Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Shakib al Hasan, Kamran Akmal, Darren Sammy, Hasan Ali, Haris Sohail, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Asghar
Players picked in the draft: Dwayne Bravo, Tamim Iqbal, Hammad Azam, Saad Nasim, Taimoor Sultan, Sameen Gul, Ibtisam Sheikh
Supplementary players: Andre Fletcher, Evin Lewis, Khalid Usman, Muhammad Arif
Quetta Gladiators
Retained players: Sarfraz Ahmed, Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Nawaz, Anwar Ali, Mahmudullah, Umar Amin, Mir Hamza, Asad Shafiq
Players picked in the draft: Shane Watson, Carlos Brathwaite, Rahat Ali, Rameez Raja Jr, Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel, Hassan Khan
Supplementary players: Jason Roy, Rashid Khan, Moin Khan (jr.), Faraz Ahmed
Lahore Qalandars
Retained players: Umar Akmal, Sunil Narine, Brendon McCullum, Fakhar Zaman, Yasir Shah, Cameron Delport, Aamer Yamin, Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail Khan
Players picked in the draft: Chris Lynn, Mustafizur Rehman, Bilal Asif, Raza Hasan, Sohail Akhtar, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Ghulam Mudassar
Supplementary players: Angelo Mathews, Mitchell McClenaghan, Gulraiz Sadaf
Multan Sultans
Pre-draft players: Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Kumar Sangakkara, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Irfan Khan, Kashif Bhatti
Players picked in the draft: Imran Tahir, Darren Bravo, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Abbas, Nicholas Pooran, Abdullah Shafique, Saif Badar
Supplementary players: Hardus Viljoen, Umar Gul, Umar Siddiq, Ross Whiteley
Multan Sultans became the sixth side to join the Pakistan Super League following a bidding procedure. They join the Peshawar Zalmis, Lahore Qalandars, Karachi Kings, Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United as the other teams in the competition.
Last season had seen a main draft held before teams were allowed to transfer their players, and this was followed by a mini-Draft going into the final of the Pakistan Super League that was held in Lahore. This year, as many as eight games are expected to played in Pakistan, including a few in Lahore and Karachi.
PSL Chairman Najam Sethi has already said that the overseas players selected will be expected to play those Pakistan-based games as well.
In a strange piece of news, Shahid Afridi has decided he will no longer ply his trade for the Peshawar side which was led by Darren Sammy; instead he will feature for the Karachi Kings.
Inzamam-ul-Haq has joined the Lahore Qalandars in an advisory role for the third edition of the Pakistan Super League.
The country has a strong cricketing heritage and keeps dishing out prominent players on the scene. The country’s capacity at hurling fast bowlers on the cricketing arena is almost incredible. The administrators are tweaking last year’s faults to ensure that everything is hunky dory with Lahore/Karachi set to host the PSL 2018 final.