LAHORE: A replacement draft for the 2018 Pakistan Super League (PSL) was held at Pakistan Cricket Board’s headquarters here on Monday. Karachi Kings were the most active of the six franchises, making three changes to their roster. They signed England batsman Joe Denly in place of countryman Luke Wright, who had represented Quetta Gladiators in the opening two editions of the PSL before being released. Wright was picked up by the Kings in the main draft in November 2017 but was forced to withdraw due to a concussion he suffered during the ongoing 2017-18 Big Bash League. The Kings also replaced Australian veteran Mitchell Johnson with England pacer Tymal Mills, and New Zealand batsman Colin Munro with opener Lendl Simmons Johnson had earlier made himself available for the third edition of the PCB’s flagship T20 league but later opted out citing “personal reasons”. Meanwhile, the Gladiators replaced West Indies T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite with fellow Barbadian Jofra Archer. Brathwaite, who famously won the Calypsos the 2016 World T20 by hitting four straight sixes in the final over, opted out of the PSL 2018 due to being picked in the West Indies squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifier. Elsewhere, Lahore Qalandars replaced Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captain Angelo Mathews with New Zealand batsman Anton Devcich. According to a PCB spokesman, replacements were also drafted for players who will be only partially available for the tournament. These players will become active as and when the players they are covering for become unavailable for selection. With that arrangement, reigning champions Peshawar Zalmi signed West Indian star Dwayne Smith as cover for DJ Bravo, and Liam Dawson as replacement for Tamim Iqbal, who will leave for national duty on 4 March. Afghan spinner Zahir Khan joined Multan Sultans to provide cover for West Indian batsman Nicholas Pooran for the first three games of the tournament. Pooran will join the Sultans after finishing with the domestic 50-over competition back home. The third edition of the PSL will start on February 22. Published in Daily Times, January 30th 2018.