LAHORE – June 18: A total of 74 Pakistani male cricketers, including national T20I captain Salman Ali Agha, have registered for the Big Bash League (BBL) Season 15 Draft, Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed on Monday. The draft is scheduled to take place on June 19.
Joining Salman in the list are standout players like dynamic opener Mohammad Haris and mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed, both of whom have made a mark in recent domestic and international competitions.
The draft also features Pakistani stars already known to global T20 audiences, such as Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Usama Mir, and Mohammad Hasnain — all adding depth to an already competitive overseas talent pool.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s batting ace Babar Azam has been pre-signed by the Sydney Sixers and will make his BBL debut this season. According to reports, Babar was offered a salary exceeding the Platinum base price, estimated at nearly PKR 10 crore — making him one of the highest-paid players in BBL history. The Platinum base price itself is around PKR 7.75 crore.
Under BBL rules, franchises are allowed to pre-sign one overseas player before the official draft. Babar joins 14 other marquee players already secured across both the men’s and women’s leagues.
In addition to the men’s draft, 11 Pakistani women cricketers have entered the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) draft, reflecting a growing presence of Pakistani talent in Australia’s premier T20 competitions.
This year’s BBL draft has drawn over 600 overseas registrations — making it one of the most competitive to date. The men’s draft includes players from England (178), the West Indies (42), Sri Lanka (13), and one from India. On the women’s side, top entries come from England (46), India (15), New Zealand (15), and Pakistan (11).
Brisbane Heat will have the first pick in the men’s draft, giving them the advantage of selecting from this elite group of global players.
Pakistani Players Registered for BBL 15 Draft:
Asif Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Muhammad Akhlaq, Ammad Butt, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Hasan Ali, Muhammad Ali, Nauman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Umar Amin, Ali Asfand, Azan Awais, Saim Ayub, Danish Aziz, Tahir Baig, Ahmed Daniyal, Sahibzada Farhan, Zafar Gohar, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Huzaifa, Muhammad Imran Jr, Aamer Jamal, Azam Khan, Haseebullah Khan, Ihsanullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Mubasir Khan, Sajid Khan, Shadab Khan, Shahzaib Khan, Usman Khan, Yasir Khan, Zaman Khan, Irfan Khan Niazi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mehmood, Arafat Minhas, Usama Mir, Mehran Mumtaz, Sufiyan Muqeem, Khawaja Nafay, Hasan Nawaz, Rohail Nazir, Muhammad Nawaz, Usman Qadir, Momin Qamar, Haris Rauf, Ali Raza, Mohammad Rizwan, Abdul Samad, Ali Shafiq, Abdullah Shafique, Hunain Shah, Khushdil Shah, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Shahzad, Saud Shakeel, Hussain Talat, Usman Tariq, Siraj Uddin, Imam-ul-Haq, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Muhammad Wasim, Arif Yaqoob, Zeeshan Zameer, Muhammad Zeeshan.
