Defending champions Karachi Kings surprised their fans after trading Alex Hales with Islamabad United for Colin Ingram as Pakistan Super League (PSL) released teams’ retention list for the sixth season.
In the only trade of this season, Hales returns to Islamabad United whereas Ingram joins Karachi Kings after leaving them last season.
According to Karachi Kings’ spokesperson, Hales was an additional opener in the side but he was forced to play at number three since they had well-set opening pair of Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan. In a need of solid middle-order batsman, they made a trade with Islamabad United for Ingram.
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But, Karachi Kings’ fans didn’t like their franchise losing a power-hitter who they think did well playing at number 3 last season.
Baqi to thek hai hales ke jaga ingram is not something considered as a good trade
— Sohail Shaikh (@SohailRealOne) January 9, 2021
Man, Hales was doing fine at 3…
— Ahson (@Ahson8) January 9, 2021
But hales 1 down khelta tha nation team mai b jo ek acha core tha karachi ka top 3 players
— Jibran Akhtar ⚡️ (@jibranakhtar632) January 9, 2021
Hales with Ingram! Man just played an integral part in Karachi becoming champion. And question raises that why they released Ingram in PSL 5 at first place.🤦♂️🤦♂️#PSL6 https://t.co/Vvy6BclZvb
— Maaz Ahmed (@maaz_ad) January 9, 2021
Alex Hales is top order and we already have Sharjeel and Babar. Ingram fits in at 4,5 or 6. Better choice in the middle.
— Annus Raza (@annusraza) January 9, 2021
Why tf would any sane team let Alex Hales go, could’ve easily served us for 2-3 more seasons since he isnt going to be picked for England any time soon & is one of the world’s best T20 bats still cant make head or tail about this tbh
Also Fakhar ended up being retained by LQ LOL
— Ahson (@Ahson8) January 9, 2021
Only if they pick Hasan I can forgive them for trading Hales lol
— Ahson (@Ahson8) January 9, 2021
Jealous of IU rn, mera hales leliya 😭😂
Insecure….. umm, i am possessive about my things and people tou kabhi us wajha se insecure hosakti hn otherwise kisi chez se nahi
— Nimra Zahid (@NIMMRARA) January 9, 2021
But hales 😭😭😭😭
— Nimra Zahid (@NIMMRARA) January 9, 2021
Karachi might get Miller and Hasan at the draft, suddenly the Hales trade is beginning to make sense.
— Ahson (@Ahson8) January 9, 2021
It must be noted here that Hales scored 272 runs in nine PSL 5 matches for Karachi Kings at an average of 45.33.
Player retention/release/trade for PSL 6:
Karachi Kings (retained) – Amir Yamin (gold); Arshad Iqbal (emerging); Babar Azam (platinum); Colin Ingram (platinum, traded from Islamabad United); Imad Wasim (diamond, successful relation request); Mohammad Amir (platinum); Sharjeel Khan gold) and Waqas Maqsood (silver, brand ambassador)
Released – Ali Khan, Awais Zia, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton, Chris Jordan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mitchell McCleneghan, Mohammad Rizwan, Umaid Asif, Umer Khan and Usama Mir
Retention List: @KarachiKingsARY #HBLPSLDraft pic.twitter.com/zfhlYMMFWC
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) January 9, 2021
Islamabad United (retained) – Alex Hales (Platinum; traded from Karachi Kings); Asif Ali (gold); Colin Munro (diamond); Faheem Ashraf (diamond); Hussain Talat (gold, brand ambassador); Musa Khan (silver, successful relegation request); Shadab Khan (platinum); Zafar Gohar (silver, successful relegation request)
Released – Ahmer Safi Abdullah, Akif Javed, Amad Butt, Dale Steyn, Luke Ronchi (unavailable due to coaching duties in New Zealand), Phil Salt, Rassie van der Dussen, Rizwan Hussain, Rumman Raees and Saif Badar
Retention List: @IsbUnited #HBLPSLDraft pic.twitter.com/ssgG8yQe7w
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) January 9, 2021
Lahore Qalandars (retained) – Ben Dunk (gold); David Wiese (diamond); Dilbar Hussain (gold); Fakhar Zaman (diamond, brand ambassador); Haris Rauf (diamond); Mohammad Hafeez; Shaheen Shah Afridi (both platinum) and Sohail Akhtar (silver, successful relegation request)
Released – Abid Ali, Agha Salman, Chris Lynn, Dane Vilas, Dilbar Hussain, Farzan Raja, Jaahid Ali, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Faizan, Salman Butt, Salman Irshad, Samit Patel, Seekkuge Prasanna and Usman Shinwari
Retention List: @MultanSultans #HBLPSLDraft pic.twitter.com/dVA1P9Njm0
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) January 9, 2021
Multan Sultans (retained) – Shahid Afridi (platinum), Imran Tahir (diamond, mentor); James Vince (gold); Khushdil Shah (diamond); Rilee Rossouw (platinum); Shan Masood (gold, successful relegation request); Sohail Tanvir (Diamond, brand ambassador); Usman Qadir (gold)
Released – Ali Shafiq, Asad Shafiq, Bilawal Bhatti, Fabian Allen, Junaid Khan, Moeen Ali, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Ravi Bopara, Rohail Nazir, Wayne Madsen and Zeeshan Ashraf
Retention List: @PeshawarZalmi #HBLPSLDraft pic.twitter.com/bmFicevhel
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) January 9, 2021
Peshawar Zalmi (retained) – Haider Ali (gold); Kamran Akmal (diamond, successful relegation request); Liam Livingstone (gold); Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz (both platinum)
Released – Aamir Ali, Adil Amin, Amir Khan, Carlos Brathwaite, Hammad Azam, Hassan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kieron Pollard, Lewis Gregory, Liam Dawson (unavailable), Mohammad Mohsin, Rahat Ali, Sikandar Raza, Tom Banton, Umar Amin and Yasir Shah
Quetta Gladiators (retained) – Anwar Ali (silver, successful relegation request); Azam Khan (gold); Ben Cutting (diamond); Mohammad Hasnain (diamond); Mohammad Nawaz (diamond); Naseem Shah (gold); Sarfaraz Ahmed (platinum) and Zahid Mahmood (silver, brand ambassador)
Released – Aarish Ali Khan, Abdul Nasir, Ahmed Shehzad, Ahsan Ali, Fawad Ahmad, Jason Roy (unavailable), Keemo Paul, Khurram Manzoor, Omair bin Yousuf, Shane Watson (retired), Sohail Khan, Tymal Mills (unavailable) and Umar Akmal (suspended).
Retention List: @TeamQuetta #HBLPSLDraft pic.twitter.com/ivZNtJrNNc
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) January 9, 2021
It is pertinent to mention here that the sixth edition of the PSL will start from February 20 in Karachi where 20 matches will be played. Later on, the league will move to Lahore who will host 14 matches including playoffs and fina. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the PCB has limited teams’ travel and decided to host PSL 6 on just two venues with no crowd according to the initial plan.
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