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PSL 2026 Unsold players - Which omission surprised you the most?

The Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle

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The 2026 Pakistan Super League (PSL 11) made history by shifting from its traditional draft system to a player auction, which took place on February 11, 2026, at Lahore's Expo Centre.

With eight teams now in the mix—including the new franchises Sialkot Stallionz and Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen—the competition for spots was tighter than ever. While many stars like Naseem Shah (who became the highest-ever buy at Rs 8.65 crore) fetched huge sums, several high-profile names were left without a team in the initial rounds.

Which omission surprised you the most?
 
Arif Yaqoob not being sold was the biggest shocker. I think Islamabad should had gone for him.

I was surprised that Dhani wasnt selected by Zalmi, as Misbah bought him over to SNGPL for first class.
 
Funny how Hussain Talat and Haris were being labelled as good players and were part of the national t20 team, and over here not a single team form the 8 teams wanted them.

But Arif Yaqoob, that makes no sense. He should had been bought
 
James Vince's omission surprised me. He is a proven performer with a strong track record who can deliver for you at the top of the order. A good pick in any league.

Haider Ali being omitted was also a bit surprising.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
James Vince's omission surprised me. He is a proven performer with a strong track record who can deliver for you at the top of the order. A good pick in any league.

Haider Ali being omitted was also a bit surprising.
Click to expand...
I think his England case destroyed his reputation.
 
Major said:
I think his England case destroyed his reputation.
Click to expand...
People should move on. At the end of the day, the charges against him were dropped. You still have a player who could be developed and could be useful as a lower middle-order batter.
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Arshad Iqbal's insta story

He went unsold in PSL ,

View attachment 161583
Click to expand...


Have said this before and will say it again that the PSL financial model requires recalibrating.

These changes are a must

1. Profit from PSL should be distributed to domestic players with increased salaries.
2. Board needs to be frugal with its officials and the money should go to the ground staff and stadium improvement.
3. Players who don't get picked should get PSL bonus as well albeit a small amount (say for example 15-30 lac per player).

Anyway, these are the players who I feel should have been selected from the top of my head

Foreigners:

Chris Green. Taksin Ahmed. Hassan Mehmud. Wellalage. Billy Stanlage. Muzarabani. Evin Lewis. Rossington. Players from NZ squad that had signed up.

Some of the direct signings have been very boring and carry zero inspiration.

Local:

Muhammad Seyam. Muhammad Zeeshan. Faiq Butt. Qasim Akram. Arshad Iqbal. Zafar Gohar. Dahani.

There are so many more but I can't really recall them all at this moment. Some nobodies got picked that have neither shown up in the under 23 circuit or the u19 setup.

Overall, it's a very middling 5.5/10 kind of auction. All the typical flaws that we displayed in the draft have been replicated. The plus and it's a big plus is the selection of Airee from Nepal. Have to commend Islu that they are paying attention on such things and hopefully this will be a good signing (their team is packed so not sure if he'll play a lot but it's still a good selection)
 
Can’t really complain if you can’t make it into 8 teams, they need better agents or need to be as dynamic as Nafay and Amad butt and get spotted amongst the domestic clutter
As for the foreigners surprised for Usman Khawaja,van dussen,Wiley and shakib who easily make the criteria
Chuffed for Roussow who is the new Darren Sammy of the psl, what a legend
 
Was Sharjeel sold? Even though he’s older and fitness isn’t great, I think he still would have got a chance for sure if he hadn’t fixed. Not that I have any sympathy for him, just he’s usually the biggest name in the unsold/surprise omissions.
 
From the locals, I am surprised Qasim Akram, Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Faiq all went unpicked. Qasim Akram is looking like a player that will eventually go to USA to realize his potential.

I am not sure if teams can still make more signings or not. If so, it could be some of these players get picked up after the domestic T20 tournament where standout players could find themselves on PSL teams. It happened with Farhan who went unpicked to supplement pick in PSL to National team & platinum pick within a year.
 
I see Sharjeel was sold.

To be fair there aren’t any real noticeable omissions. Which really should be the case ideally anyway. It allows the comparison of international players to fringe/former international players.

A lot of people didn’t like him but I thought it felt awful silly when the past you had guys like shehzad and even Farhan briefly without teams. That’s kind of indicator that there weren’t enough teams.
 
Faiq and arshad should have been selected... they have had some good domestic seasons.. Faiq has 2 t20 centuries and has only played just few games... Arshad was the top bowler in the President's Cup but was still ignored...
 
Amazing that no one even remembers Muhammad Musa Khan here. He has been in good form in red ball format and has been taking wickets for fun... He is ignored... No one even mentioned him here... Looks like he is forgotten
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Is there a final list of unsold players?
Click to expand...

I went to the link where PCB had posted all the players who had put their name in the auction but the link is broken now so to me it seems like PCB has removed the file.

Never thought of downloading it or backing it up so don't have the full list anymore.
 
BouncerGuy said:
Amazing that no one even remembers Muhammad Musa Khan here. He has been in good form in red ball format and has been taking wickets for fun... He is ignored... No one even mentioned him here... Looks like he is forgotten
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Is he the same guy who played a test match once for Pakistan?
 
Shahid Afridi throws his support behind Shehzad and Akmal following their omission from PSL 11:

"In my view, I believe that we tend to ignore certain players completely. I had hoped that after two new teams came in, some of our experienced cricketers would be considered,"

"I think it is necessary to mention them here — I have done so before, and I will do so again — whether it is Umar Akmal or Ahmed Shehzad."

"I feel they are still playing regularly; they are visible in practice sessions, in training, and in the gym. I do not think they should be overlooked to this extent."

"They deserve respect. Both have delivered outstanding performances in the past. They are quality players and fine cricketers. I believe they should not be ignored so heavily and should be given opportunities — they should have been given chances."

"If I were associated with any team, I would certainly include these two players. The key question is how to manage them. Senior players often have attitude-related issues,"

"Not every child in a household is the same; you deal with each one differently. Similarly, players must be handled according to their temperament,"

"When I was captain and worked with them, I knew how to manage them and how to deal with others as well,"

"That is what man-management at this level is about. When people talk about coaching, this is the real coaching: understanding a player's strengths and weaknesses and coordinating with them accordingly, managing them properly, and guiding them in the right way."

"That is the real art of getting performances out of players. I have always strongly believed in man-management. Everyone has a different method, but you must know how to get the best out of each player and in what way."

"I believe Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad should have been part of at least one franchise team."
 
Cricket Warrior said:
Shahid Afridi throws his support behind Shehzad and Akmal following their omission from PSL 11:

"In my view, I believe that we tend to ignore certain players completely. I had hoped that after two new teams came in, some of our experienced cricketers would be considered,"

"I think it is necessary to mention them here — I have done so before, and I will do so again — whether it is Umar Akmal or Ahmed Shehzad."

"I feel they are still playing regularly; they are visible in practice sessions, in training, and in the gym. I do not think they should be overlooked to this extent."

"They deserve respect. Both have delivered outstanding performances in the past. They are quality players and fine cricketers. I believe they should not be ignored so heavily and should be given opportunities — they should have been given chances."

"If I were associated with any team, I would certainly include these two players. The key question is how to manage them. Senior players often have attitude-related issues,"

"Not every child in a household is the same; you deal with each one differently. Similarly, players must be handled according to their temperament,"

"When I was captain and worked with them, I knew how to manage them and how to deal with others as well,"

"That is what man-management at this level is about. When people talk about coaching, this is the real coaching: understanding a player's strengths and weaknesses and coordinating with them accordingly, managing them properly, and guiding them in the right way."

"That is the real art of getting performances out of players. I have always strongly believed in man-management. Everyone has a different method, but you must know how to get the best out of each player and in what way."

"I believe Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad should have been part of at least one franchise team."
Click to expand...
Umar Akmal and Shehzad lol are we in 2017?
 
The most perplexing one is Mo Faiq, who’s in the Shaheens squad to face England Lions later this month. Weird to not pick him.

What I would say is that some franchises still have a remaining purse, so he could still be signed. Hopefully same w/ Qasim Akram inshAllah
 
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