Pakistani T20 superstars Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi are set to become headline names in the BBL’s inaugural draft for international players, reports the Daily Telegraph’s Ben Horne.
Azam and Rizwan are the two highest-ranked players in T20 international cricket and are set to light up the league alongside fellow international stars Rashid Khan, Faf Du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo.
There are believed to have been 170 nominations for the BBL draft so far, yet only 28 are public.
Further big names include Kieron Pollard (West Indies), Rilee Rossouw (South Africa) and Colin Munro (New Zealand).
The Melbourne Renegades drew pick one in a lottery held yesterday, with the BBL|12 draft to be held on August 28.
The draft will be broadcast on Fox Sports and Kayo, with Fox Cricket's Adam Gilchrist, Michael Hussey, Darren Lehmann, Kath Loughnan and Mark Howard to host.
The international draft is hoped to reinspire interest in the BBL which has faced declining ratings and standards in recent years.