PSL 9: Naseem Shah joins Islamabad United in record trade

• Naseem Shah joined Islamabad United.
• Every franchise was looking to grab Naseem.
• Iftikhar Ahmed will play for the Multan Sultans.

Naseem Shah, a top pacer for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) team Quetta Gladiators, has made a significant trade to Islamabad United.

After rumors circulated that the right-arm bowler had chosen to depart from Quetta, Naseem became the talk of the cricket community, with every PSL team attempting to sign the 20-year-old.

𝐁𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐒𝐋 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭 🚨@iNaseemShah is officially a part of @IsbUnited now 🚨

The biggest T20 bowler of Pakistan has a new franchise now 🔥#𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐈𝐂𝐀 #𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐈𝐂𝐀 #PakistanCricket #PSL #HBLPSL9 pic.twitter.com/h7oaAOTDrE

— ICA (@ICAssociation) December 2, 2023

Islamabad has now secured the first-round platinum selection for Quetta, while Quetta has secured the third-round platinum selection for Islamabad.

Strong reports suggested that Naseem would end up playing for Peshawar Zalmi or the Multan Sultans, who had just acquired Iftikhar Ahmed in a trade deal. However, Islamabad emerged victorious in the competition to sign the pacer.

✍🏻 SIGNING ALERT ✍🏻

Mystery spinner #AbrarAhmed & bowling all-rounder @Wasim_Jnr joins the Gladiators family!

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🫂 Quetta Gladiators bid farewell to 🌟 pace sensation @iNaseemShah as he moves to Islamabad United !#PurpleForce #HBLPSL9 #HBLPSLDRAFT pic.twitter.com/KktjAlQ1R4

— Quetta Gladiators (@TeamQuetta) December 2, 2023

Even though the highly anticipated PSL 9 draft is still 11 days away, Islamabad has already selected two of the top players in the shorter format.

In a trade that saw pacer Hasan Ali join Karachi Kings, Imad Wasim joined the United family. The left-handed all-rounder finished with 404 runs and nine wickets in ten matches to win PSL 8 Player of the Tournament.

Islamabad is gradually emerging as one of the favorites for the forthcoming season thanks to some of the best all-around players in the world, including Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf, and hard-hitters like Rahmanullah Gurbaz of Afghanistan, Azam Khan and Asif Ali of Pakistan.

Prior to this, Iftikhar Ahmed and Rilee Rossouw made a significant trade for the Multan Sultans.

Iftikhar, who has previously played for Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, and Peshawar Zalmi, will don the Sultans’ uniform in 2019 and become the league’s first player to represent five different teams.

Multan now has the first platinum pick in the PSL 9 Draft, which is set to take place in Lahore on December 13th, thanks to the historic transaction.

Rossouw returned to Quetta, the side he played for when winning the PSL title in 2019 and finishing as the second-highest scorer in the championship match against Peshawar Zalmi with 39 runs scored.

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