Pakistan Super League's (PSL) franchise Islamabad United Saturday announced that ace pacer Naseem Shah has joined the two-time winners in a major swap deal.
Naseem, who was a part of Quetta Gladiators, was the topic of discussion among the cricket fraternity and every PSL franchise was eyeing to bring the 20-year-old on board after it was reported that he had decided to leave Quetta.
Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed and Muhammad Wasim Jr — who represented United — moved to Quetta Gladiators.
There were strong rumours that Naseem might end up joining Multan Sultans, who recently got Iftikhar Ahmed in another swap deal, or Peshawar Zalmi, but Islamabad came out triumphant in the race to get the pacer’s signature.
There are still 11 days in the much-anticipated PSL 9 draft, but Islamabad has already gotten two of the best players of the shorter format.
Imad Wasim became part of the United family in a swap deal that saw pacer Hasan Ali joining Karachi Kings. The left-handed all-rounder was the Player of the Tournament in PSL 8 with 404 runs and nine wickets in 10 matches.
With some of the finest hard hitters like Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Pakistan’s Azam Khan, and Asif Ali and all-rounders like Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf, Islamabad are slowly becoming one of the favourites for the upcoming season.