Ahmad Shahzad has alleged that there is a deliberate effort to keep him out of the Pakistan Super League after he wasn’t picked at the draft for the 2024 competition, prompting him to announce that he will not play in the league again.

Shahzad released a cryptic statement on social media in which he claimed to “exactly know the reasons” why he was not picked up in the draft, and that his “fans will know it very soon”. The opening batter last played in the 2020 PSL, having played in every edition of the league before that. He was the fourth highest run-scorer playing for Quetta Gladiators in the inaugural competition before going on to represent Multan Sultans in 2018, returning to Gladiators the following year.

However, Shahzad has not been picked up for the last four PSL auctions since the 2020 edition, where he made 61 from seven matches. Following the latest snub, Shahzad wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “A heartfelt goodbye to Pakistan Super League! I’m writing this note which I thought I wouldn’t be writing this year. Another PSL draft goes by and same old story – didn’t get picked. God knows why!

“I have tried really hard by giving it all in domestic circuit consistently in last few years, and did reasonably well in the National T20 Cup just before the PSL draft. There seems a deliberate effort to keep me out, even when franchises have opted for other performers which inferior numbers than me. But when everything is pre-planned so it doesn’t really matter. I don’t know whose responsibility it is to get top domestic performers in the PSL then.”

A heartfelt goodbye! pic.twitter.com/7NdjpCXjeR

— Ahmad Shahzad 🇵🇰 (@iamAhmadshahzad) December 15, 2023

Shahzad finished in the top ten run-scorers in the recently concluded National T20 Cup, having scored 344 runs at an average of 43. He made four fifties.

His statement went on to say: “I’m parting ways and saying goodbye to Pakistan Super League for my own self respect. I’ve never played for money and will never do it. While many chose international leagues across the globe, I decided to grind in domestic circuit to prove my love for the game, and to wear the Green Flag again. I’m taking this decision keeping money out of it (was offered several contracts to play leagues yet chose Pakistan).

“I will not play the PSL again with these six teams. It seems like a shared responsibility to keep me away from PSL, and all franchises have shaken hands.”

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