Pakistan stars in the first list of men’s BBL draft, with Jemimah and Shikha Pandey the Indian players in WBBL.
Pakistan stars Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan lead the list of names in the draft for the men’s 2025 BBL season. Haris Rauf and Muhammad Rizwan are the other two.
The Brisbane Heat will have the first pick and the first opportunity to select a player in the June 19 draft.
The remaining six players on the first draft list of ten players are Shamar Joseph of the West Indies, Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee of New Zealand, Sam Curran and Alex Hales of England, and Kusal Perera of Sri Lanka.
Along with Deandra Dottin of the West Indies and Fatima Sana of Pakistan, the Indian duo of Shikha Pandey and Jemimah Rodrigues are on the first list of nominees for the WBBL. The roster also includes South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon, as well as England’s Lauren Bell, Sophie Ecclestone, Heather Knight, and Danni Wyatt-Hodge.
In order to give teams greater assurance about player selection, the draft for the forthcoming BBL and WBBL seasons has been moved ahead to June. More than 600 foreign players have expressed interest in the BBL and WBBL, according to a CA statement.
The teams have already begun to assemble their teams. The overseas players who have already been pre-signed are Jamie Overton and Laura Wolvaardt (Adelaide Strikers), Colin Munro and Nadine de Klerk (Brisbane Heat), Chris Jordan (Hobart Hurricanes), Tim Seifert and Hayley Matthews (Melbourne Renegades), Tom Curran and Marizanne Kapp (Melbourne Stars), Finn Allen and Sophie Devine (Perth Scorchers), Amelia Kerr (Sydney Sixers), Sam Billings and Chamari Athapaththu (Sydney Thunder).
Similar to the Sixers in the BBL, the Hurricanes have not yet announced a pre-signed player for the WBBL.
The Heat and Sixers, respectively, will get the first picks in the BBL and WBBL drafts this season. Each team receives one pick in each of the four rounds of the two drafts. One of four overseas player price bands—Platinum (round 1 or 2), Gold (round 2 or 3), Silver (round 3 or 4), or Bronze (round 4 only)—is available for teams to select a player who has declared themselves available for draft. Teams are allowed to pass once and are required to use a minimum of three picks, including pre-signed players.