After a successful first season in 2016, the Pakistan Super League is going to be kicking off again this Feb 9.

Despite being organised on foreign soil, interference from champions’ league, and various other legal and financial challenges, the first season proved to be a big success both in Dubai and back home in Pakistan.

From Feb 9 onwards, the PSL will see millions of cricket lovers glued to their television sets for what shall be a spectacular display of T20 cricket. This time around, however, some exciting players will be missing in action.

First in the line of such sportsmen is Andre Russell of West Indies. Russell is serving a one year ban, after results of his dope test came out ‘positive'.

Andre Russell

Andre Russell, considered a match-winning T20 cricketer, had represented Islamabad United in the first season of PSL.

In the 2016 season, the all-rounder bagged 16 wickets, winning the title of ‘best bowler’. His performance contributed greatly to Islamabad United's eventual triumph.

Apart from being a star bowler, he is also an exceptional fielder and an aggressive batsman, who can conveniently hit huge sixes in the concluding overs to shift the match in his team’s favour.

In this years draft, Islamabad United replaced Andre Russell with Steven Finn of England. The defending champions are surely going to miss Russell’s presence, but Finn, too, is one to watch out for.

Dwayne Bravo

Another big West Indian name who is going to be missing out on this year's action is Dwayne Bravo. Bravo, who suffered from a hamstring injury in Australia’s Big Bash League, is currently on a post-surgery recovery schedule. It seems, the "champion" is going to be out of the cricket field for quite a while.

Bravo, who like Russell is considered a match-winning player in league cricket, was out-of-form in PSL’s first edition, and couldn’t perform as expected. He failed in putting up a good show in bowling as well as batting. His team Lahore Qalandars generally did not have a great season as they struggled from their very first match.

This year, in place of Bravo, Lahore Qalandars have chosen Jason Roy, an English opener who is known for his aggressive batting. Roy will be playing alongside New Zealand’s big hitter, Brendon McCullum.

Bradd Hodge

‘T20 specialist’ Brad Hodge has played a number of private leagues around the world and has 270 T20 matches under his belt.

In the first PSL season, Hodge could play only four matches for Peshawar Zalmi. After consecutively failing to perform in the initial matches, he made a comeback in the last group match scoring a crucial 85 runs, including four sixes and six fours - all in 45 deliveries.

Peshawar Zalmi did not show any interest in the 42 year-old batsmen for this year's tournament. Seeing an opportunity, Quetta Gladiators picked Hodge for their team, replacing Moin Ali, who had excused himself from this season due to his pilgrimage plans.

As it turned out, Hodge too ended up distancing himself from the tournament. His wife, Megan Hodge, is battling cancer and the gentleman decided it was best if he was by her side.

Quetta Gladiators subsequently opted for Bangladeshi all-rounder Mahmud-ullah as a replacement for the unavailable Australian batsman.

Shaun Tait

Shaun Tait is one of the fastest bowlers in the international cricket circuit right now. He was one of Peshawar Zalmi's star bowlers in the first edition of PSL.

With his terrifyingly quick bowling, Tait bagged 10 wickets in the nine matches he played.

He was picked by Lahore Qalandars for this year’s edition, but Tait, who has played 192 T20 matches, recently suffered a shoulder injury in the Australian Big Bash League and therefore won’t be seen in action for quite some time.

Australian off-spinner Chris Green is set to replace him for Lahore Qalandars.

Mohammad Nabi

The Afghan's inclusion in Quetta Gladiators playing eleven in the first season’s finale against Islamabad United perplexed observers and spectators alike. But Nabi, with his electrifying performance, proved himself in a matter of a few overs.

Nabi, who is a bit of a bowler too, couldn’t bag a lot of wickets but along with Mohammad Nawaz and Zulfiqar Babar, formed a trio that adequately kept the pressure going on rival teams.

Mohammad Nabi will be unavailable for this edition because of a series between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

Mushfiqur Rahim

Bangladeshi wicket-keeper and batsman, Rahim represented Karachi Kings in three matches in last year’s season but couldn’t prove to be a worthy addition. For the upcoming season, he simply wasn’t picked by any franchise.

James Vince

Karachi Kings had picked James Vince, looking at his exceptional performance in the English county, but the Hampshire batsman didn't quite meet the team's expectations in the seven matches he played.

He scored only 111 runs, with his highest being 44. Karachi Kings felt it was better to do away with the expensive but under-performing player.

Lendl Simmons

West Indian batsman Lendl Simmons performed reasonably in PSL's inaugural edition, scoring 161 for his team Karachi Kings in six matches. Yet he wasn’t selected by any of the franchises in 2017.

Shakib Hasan

Another player who participated in the first PSL season but was unavailable this year is Karachi King's Shakib Hasan. His national team fixture means he won't be able to participate in the second season of the PSL.

Translated by Bilal Karim Mughal from original in Urdu

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