After the third draft on the weekend to fill the gaps in club rosters caused by the fixture reshuffle Jack Wildermuth, Jake Weatherald and Tim David are the latest Australia-based players to be called up for PSL 2021. Wildermuth and Weatherald were signed by the Quetta Gladiators after Ben Cutting opted out of a return, while David will join the Lahore Qalanders.
Around Eight Australian players will fly to the United Arab Emirates this week ahead of the planned resumption of the PSL 2021 as the T20 tournament looks to complete its COVID-hit season.
Out of the 34 PSL games just 14 were completed in Karachi before the tournament was suspended amid an outbreak of COVID-19 cases amid players and support staff. The Squad sizes have also increased to 20 players, but the minimum number of overseas players in the playing XI has been reduced from three to two players for the remaining 14 games.
BCCI will be closely monitoring the tournament as they are also looking to complete the remainder of IPL 2021 in Abu Dhabi between September and October. IPL 2021 fell to a similar fate as the PSL 2021 as it was indefinitely suspended due to COVID cases in bio bubbles of four teams. The UAE is also reportedly in the running to host this year’s T20 World Cup, as the COVID situation in India has worsened. However, the decision is expected to be made at an ICC meeting early next month.
The suspension of big tournaments is resulting in big losses and the boards are losing a lot of money as sponsors have started to pull out money. The suspended IPL will reportedly result in losses worth Rs 3000 crore in this year’s revenue.
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Australians in the Pakistan Super League
Islamabad United:Â Fawad Ahmed, Usman Khawaja
Lahore Qalandars: Tim David, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Callum Ferguson
Quetta Gladiators:Â Jake Weatherald, Jack Wildermuth