LAHORE - Quetta Gladiators picked Sussex's rising sensation Jofra Archer as a replacement for allrounder Carlos Brathwaite who will miss the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and will instead play for West Indies in the World Cup qualifiers in March.
West Indian Lendl Simmons and New Zealander Anton Devcich also have joined the galaxy of stars for the third edition of the PSL after the players’ replacement draft for the event held here on Monday. Australian John Hastings, England’s Liam Dawson and Sri Lankan Thisara Perera have also been picked by various teams as cover for players who will be partially available for the franchise. Archer's Sussex team-mate Tymal Mills was roped in by Karachi Kings in place of former Australia quick Mitchell Johnson, who had pulled out of the tournament, citing personal reasons.
Archer was also one of the IPL auction sensations in recent auction where Rajasthan Royals paid $1.1 million for the all-rounder from Barbados who is seeking to qualify for England, and has already made a name for himself with English county Sussex and for Hobart Hurricanes in Australia's Big Bash League. He has bowled at up to 150 kilometres (94 miles) an hour and made scintillating run-outs in the field. Archer, only 22, will not be eligible to play for England until 2022, ruling him out of the 2019 World Cup.
Australian Ben Laughlin has been picked as cover for Archer by Gladiators as the West Indian will not be available for the full season due to his club commitments.
The replacement draft was held in Lahore on Monday where different teams picked players who withdrew from the PSL3 due to different reasons or were available for a limited period. Karachi Kings have also picked Lendl Simmons and Joe Denly. Simmons have replaced New Zealander Colin Munro while Denly replaced injured Luke Wright.
Lahore Qalandars have picked New Zealand’s Devicich in place of Sri Lanka’s Angelo Matthews. Matthews was unavailable for the PSL due to an injury.
Meanwhile, replacements were also drafted for players who are partially available for Pakistan's premier T20 tournament. Replacement players will become active as and when the players they are covering for become unavailable for selection. West Indian star Dwayne Smith joins Peshawar Zalmi as cover for DJ Bravo, who will be making his way back from rehab, and Tamim Iqbal, who will leave for national duty on March 4.
Afghan spinner Zahir Khan joins Multan Sultans to provide cover for West Indian batsman Nicholas Pooran for the first three games of the tournament. Pooran will join the Sultans after finishing with the domestic 50-over competition back home.
Gladiators have also roped in Chris Green, Albie Morkel and John Hastings for partially available players Rashid Khan, Jason Roy and Mahmudullah Riyad. Qalandars have picked West Indian Dinesh Ramdin as cover for Bangladeshi Mustafiz ur Rehman who will not be available for the full season due to national duty. Sri Lankan Thisara Perera will cover for Imran Tahir in Multan Sultans' squad. Islamabad United have also picked Asela Gunaratne, Steve Finn and Chadwick Walton as cover players for JP Duminy, David Willey and Sam Billings, respectively. The third edition of PSL will commence on February 22 with defending champions Peshawar Zalmi taking on new entrants Multan Sultans.