Live blog - PSL 2022 draft

(As we reported earlier) Fakhar Zaman is back with Lahore Qalandars for PSL 2022. He was the franchise's first pick in the draft. Umar Akmal is back in the PSL and will reunite with Quetta Gladiators. His elder brother Kamran Akmal, meanwhile will return to Peshawar Zalmi. There were some interesting left-field picks as well. Case in point: Qalandars choosing Otago Volts' Dean Foxcroft. Hope you enjoyed our coverage of the draft as much we did bringing it to you. For more slicing and dicing of the squads, stick with ESPNcricinfo. Until next time, this is Deivarayan Muthu signing off.

The last pick in the PSL 2022 draft is Syed Faridoun Mahmood who gets a gig with Lahore Qalandars. The left-arm wristspinner made his T20 debut, at the BBL, earlier this month

Gladiators' final pick is top-order batter Ahsan Ali. He has played for the franchise in the past too

Kings choose WI and Guyana Amazon Warriors fast-bowling allrounder Romario Shepherd. He can bowl yorkers at the death and can also smash big sixes at the slog. He's currently part of WI's white-ball side in Pakistan

United pick Ather Mehmood. This is their 18th - and last - pick. They've filled up their quota

KP's Mohammad Haris gets a supplementary deal with Zalmi. Mazher Arshad on the draft broadcast tells us that Haris' nickname is 'Google' and that he idolises Jos Buttler

United pick Afghanistan wicketkeeper-opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz. He was in scorching form in the Abu Dhabi T10 league recently and was part of Multan Sultans in the past

Australia allrounder Ben Cutting moves from Gladiators to Zalmi. He is currently in action for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League

Quetta snap up Afghanistan's left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad. He was part of Karachi Kings earlier and is currently in action for Galle Gladiators at the LPL

Lahore Qalandars choose Maaz Khan. That brings an end to the emerging round

"The draft is always exciting and there's always something unpredictable that happens. We've watched Rumman over the years, but I saw him at the T10 and he was playing under Mushtaq Ahmed. He didn't get many games as Mills was there, but we value his experience. I think some of our picks have worked out well. Tim David, Odean Smith and Khushdil is a powerful batting order. I think we have a team to defend it [the title]. Rizwan was a standout last season. Shahnawaz Dahani was sensational with the ball and lifted everyone's spirits.

"I've played against Afridi, he's still going. He's inspirational and we loved having him. Amazing he's still fit enough..."

Zalmi choose M Zeeshan Zameer. However, United use their RTM card to keep their emerging talent Zeeshan. Zeeshan Zameer was also part of the T10 league in February earlier this year. Zalmi revise their pick and choose Mohammad Amir Khan instead

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Amir Azmat goes to Multan Sultans.

Quetta Gladiators draft Pakistan U-19 batter Abdul Wahid Bangalzai. He recently hit an unbeaten double-hundred in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in November

United take allrounder Qasim Akram as their emerging pick. Okay, hang on, Kings exercise their RTM card. Akram was part of the Kings squad in 2021 and he will stay with them for the upcoming season. United need to pick another player; they have another 90 seconds to do so. United pick Mubasir Khan in the end

Left-arm wristspinner Faisal Akram is picked by Kings. The 18-year old has played just four T20s so far, picking up one wicket at an economy rate of 8.12

Multan Sultans choose Abbas Afridi as their emerging player. So, another Afridi in Sultans' roster

Emerging player Khurram Shehzad picked by Gladiators in the silver round. The Gladiators also draft Afghanistan quick Naveen-ul-Haq. That caps the silver round

...the other Akmal - Kamran - returns to Zalmi for PSL 22. He's the second highest run-getter in the league behind Babar Azam

Multan Sultans get Imran Khan Snr. He will stay with the franchise

The WI batting allrounder is back in the PSL. He's currently part of WI's touring party in Pakistan. Powell displayed strong form in the T10 league and LPL

He made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in Harare earlier this year

Islamabad United pick Zafar Gohar as their third-round silver pick. He bowls defensive left-arm fingerspin and can also bat lower down the order

He will be their second keeper behind Joe Clarke

Aziz recently made his white-ball debuts for Pakistan earlier this year. He can bowl left-arm fingerspin and can also bat in the middle order

The Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter is Quetta's second-round silver pick. Left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir, a third-round silver pick, will be his team-mate at Quetta

Interesting pick from Lahore Qalandars. The SA-born Otago Volts allrounder gets a PSL gig as well. He recently missed a second successive domestic season in New Zealand due to Covid-enforced border restrictions.

The Somerset allrounder goes to Karachi Kings. He was previous part of Lahore Qalandars

The England seamer will bring variety to the United attack with his left-arm angle and cutters. Topley is currently in action for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL

Central Punjab's Muhammad Akhlaq goes to United. He could be United's back-up wicketkeeper behind Azam Khan

Ghulam was part of United and Pakistan Under-19s in the past

The Pakistan bowling allrounder was previously part of Zalmi

Coach Andy Flower nods his head as left-arm quick Raees is unveiled as Sultans' pick

Zalmi will have the first crack at this round. They choose Pakistani quick Salman Irshad

Phil Salt,the former Islamabad wicketkeeper-batter, will now turn out for Lahore Qalandars. The franchise makes another pick at the gold round and that will be England's Brook who is currently with the Lions squad in Australia

Zalmi make the second pick in the gold round and they choose Pakistan legspinner Usman Qadir. He was also part of St Lucia Kings in CPL 2021

Qalandars will make the first pick in this round too, having scooped up Fakhar as their Platinum player. Pakistan opening batter Abdullah Shafiq goes to Qalandars. He has played 20 T20s so far, hitting 658 runs at a strike rate of 131.07

Quetta Gladiators pick Australia allrounder James Faulkner. He had turned out for Lahore in the second leg of PSL 2021

Odean Smith has Andre Russell-like traits and is currently part of WI's touring party in Pakistan. Odean recently won the T10 title with Deccan Gladiators under Wahab Riaz's captaincy

United will make the first pick this round and they snap up SA's Marchant de Lange. He is currently in action for Dambulla Giants in the LPL. He also displayed good form recently in the Abu Dhabi T10 league

The England opening batter will stay with the Gladiators. That caps the platinum round

The Afghanistan opening batter, a wildcard pick, is back at Peshawar Zalmi. Zazai was originally in the diamond category, but is now a platinum pick, Umar Farooq points out

The NZ opening batter will join Alex Hales at the top for Islamabad United. He can also bat in the middle, like he does for TKR in the CPL. He is currently in fine form for Perth Scorchers in the BBL

England bowling allrounder Chris Jordan will play for Karachi Kings once again. He has also been part of United in the past. Jordan is currently playing for the Sixers in the ongoing BBL

Right, let's go. Lahore Qalandars will make the first pick. The franchise has 90 seconds to submit their first name at the draft. It is Pakistan top-order batter Fakhar Zaman. He returns to Qalandars. No surprises there. Multan Sultans will next unveil their platinum player - they go for a wildcard pick. Former Lahore batter Tim David will turn out for Multan in PSL 2022. The Singapore-born Australian batter has now become a regular in T20 leagues around the world.

PCB chairman Ramiz Raja announces that the board has a signed a deal to lay two drop-in pitches - one each in Lahore and Karachi. He calls for a greater balance between ball and bat and says playing on drop-in pitches will aid Pakistan's prep in their lead-up to the T20 World Cup in Australia next year. "Arif Habib Group will sponsor 37 crore for the drop-in pitches," pings Umar Farooq Kalson from the HP centre in Lahore

Umar Farooq weighs in: Azhar Mahmood has replaced Johan Botha for the upcoming PSL season. This is the fourth change in their coaching management since the inaugural season of the league in 2016; Dean Jones, Misbah-ul-Haq and Botha were in charge of the team previously, while Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis had stints as directors of the franchise.

Peter Moores, who had coached England across two spells from 2007-09 and 2014-15,has been roped in as Karachi Kings' new coach, taking over from Herschelle Gibbs. Moores' tenure at Nottinghamshire has included three trophies - the T20 Blast-Royal London Cup double in 2017 and a second Blast title last summer - and after a winless run in first-class cricket that stretched for 1,043 days, they have made significant improvements.

Umar Farooq, our eyes and ears, at the HP centre: It's buzzing here. The Bob Woolmer indoor school is the point where the franchises are meeting to pick their players today.

Umar has some insights and inputs from Saeed Ajmal, United's assistant coach: "We are focusing on to have the same set of players we had earlier, but then let's see if things go according to what we wish for. It was a tough call to let Iftikhar Ahmed go but there was rejig in categories, so we had to release one local player from Diamond and got Azam Khan in Gold"

There was a bit of uncertainty around Mohammad Amir's retention at Karachi Kings. Wasim Akram, Kings' director, though, confirmed it was just a speculation. "He is an experienced bowler and we tried to have our core of players retained". His category, however, was relegated from Platinum to Diamond.

Predictably, they have retained Wahab Riaz, Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik and Sherfane Rutherford. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who recently won the T10 title under Wahab's captaincy at Deccan Gladiators, has also been retained by the side. However, they have released their all-time leading run-getter Kamran Akmal, but there is a chance that he will be picked back up as a Gold category player in the draft

As expected, allrounders Faheem Ashraf and Shadab Khan have been retained. Power-hitting Asif Ali and quick Hasan Ali will also stay with Islamabad United. At the draft, United will be picking one each in the Platinum and Diamond categories, and four from the Silver category. They have room to pick two emerging players as well. Shadab is the brand ambassador of the team

As mentioned earlier, Qalandars are likely to buy back Fakhar at the draft. They have retained their premier fast bowler Haris Rauf and made him their brand ambassador while also demoting him from the Platinum category to the Diamond category. Rauf will also be in action in the BBL for Melbourne Stars later this month.

Quetta Gladiators have let go of the likes of Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Tom Banton, Ben Cutting, Usman Shinwari, Cameron Delport. However, they have retained their local core: Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hasnain and Naseem Shah. They can now pick one Platinum, one Diamond and five Silvers alongside two emerging players. Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed will continue to lead the franchise. Tearaway Hasnain will be the brand ambassador of the side

Karachi Kings have named Babar Azam captain for the season but have also retained their ex-captain Imad Wasim along with Mohammad Amir - whose category has been rejigged this season to Diamond.

Emerging players should be U‐23 as of January 1st of the playing season. Any player who has played for Pakistan in Test or ODI or T20I or has been a part of the national squad will not be included in the list of emerging players. This rule shall not apply to players who make it to the national squad after the preliminary meeting for category renewals and before the day of the Draft. Also: Any player who has played in the PSL for two seasons and has played an aggregate of 10 or more games will not be included in the list of emerging players. In case a player has played in the PSL for two seasons but has played 10 or fewer games, they may be eligible for the emerging category for an additional year. We'll take you through the draft pick-by-pick.

Qalandars have let go of Fakhar Zaman ahead of the draft, but ESPNcricinfo understands that they are likely to pick him as a platinum player. For this draft, each franchise has a Right to Match (RTM) card that allows them to buy back a player. For every RTM, the team exercising the card will have to pay an RTM price to the other team - Platinum (PKR 2.8 million), Diamond (PKR 1.75 million), Gold (PKR 1.4 million), Silver (PKR 0.8 million), Emerging (PKR 0.45 million).

Those who have been following the previous PSL auctions know the usual drill. At the end of the draft, each side should have at least 16 players in their roster.