Qalandars take Morgan as teams pick marquee players at GLT20 mini-draft

By
Faizan Lakhani
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Image: Faizan Lakhani

CAPE TOWN, SA: All eight teams expected to participate in South Africa’s T20 Global League (T20GL) on Saturday confirmed their international marquee players, with Durban Qalandars picking England’s Eoin Morgan for their slot.

The Cricket South Africa (CSA) hosted a mini-draft here on August 26 in order to allocate the eight international marquee players to their respective teams, ahead of the T20GL main draft event, which is set to take place on Sunday.

Each franchise owner was asked to make their pick during a live event, with Bloem City Blazers choosing Kieran Pollard as the first international marquee player for the inaugural competition.

Durban Qalandars — who were the fourth in the queue to make their pick — had to surrender Brendon McCullum, their first choice, and pick England’s Eoin Morgan instead.

“We obviously wanted Brendon to keep the [momentum going] as he is also the captain of Lahore Qalandars. However, he was picked by Joburg Giants, so we chose Eoin Morgan,” Rana Fawad — the chairman of the Qalandars franchise — said after the draft.

Fawad also confirmed that in the league, Morgan will be the captain of the team, which also features Hashim Amla in the lineup as South Africa marquee player.

Pakistani cricket is emerging as a worldwide brand, Fahad added, saying that the country's franchises are expanding their wings all around the world.

In addition, Fawad — who also owns Pakistan Sports League (PSL) team Lahore Qalandars — suggested a contest between franchises from Pakistan and India.

“I was speaking to the owners from Delhi, who have a franchise here as well, that the rivalry of Lahore and Delhi is four thousand years old, but both carry a good history that should be seen on the cricket field too,” Fawad explained.

“I wish to see a contest between Lahore Qalandars and Delhi Daredevils.”

Benoni Zalmi — another Pakistani franchise owned by Javed Afridi — took Jason Roy as their international marquee player.

Interestingly, Afridi was eyeing Zalmi’s PSL player Eoin Morgan for the role, but Morgan was picked earlier by Qalandars.

Afridi told Geo.tv after the drafts that the T20GL offers a good opportunity for Pakistani and Indian franchise owners to work together for cricket at the franchise level.

“We have owners of Kolkata Knight Riders in this league and they own Cape Town Knight Riders. So, we can see a Zalmi vs Knight Riders tournament in this league to add that 'India vs Pakistan flavour' to the tournament,” Afridi commented.