Kieron Pollard of the West Indies, Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan and New Zealand's Grant Elliott have emerged as the possible big-name signings for the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), scheduled to be hosted in Doha, Qatar, in February 2016.
Pollard is one of five West Indians who have expressed an interest in being part of the much-blighted PSL. Three players from Sri Lanka, including Dilshan, are also among the stars who have appeared on the radar.
The twice-postponed PSL will finally be ready for take off in February and will feature around 25 foreign players, former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and head of the Executive Committee, Najam Sethi, announced last month.
The PCB had planned a Twenty20 league in 2013 but had to postpone it twice -- in 2014 and 2015 -- over a lack of response from sponsors and logistics problems.
Two players from New Zealand, including Elliot, two from England and South Africa and one from Australia is also in the initial list of targets, a source privy to information revealed.
“We are in talks with 40 foreign players and we expect some 25 to sign for the league and out of these 15 will be world class players,” Sethi, in an earlier interview, said of the planned league with a prize money of one million dollars.
Pakistan was forced to shift the League to Doha after grounds in the United Arab Emirates -- where Pakistan have played all their home cricket since 2009 -- were booked for a private league in January-February 2016.
The big name targets
West Indies
Keiron Pollard
Sunil Narine
Dwayne Bravo
Dwyane Smith
Samuel Badree
Sri Lanka
Thisara Perera
Tilakaratene Dilshan
Ajantha Mendis
New Zealand
Grant Elliott
James Franklin
South Africa
Richard Levi
Roben Peterson
Australia
Brad Hodge
England
Tim Bresnan
Michael Carberry
