Rashid Khan, Nicholas Pooran, and Harmanpreet Kaur headline 25-player Platinum list for upcoming BBL and WBBL Draft
As many as 50 star players have been handed the prestigious Platinum status across Big Bash League (BBL) and Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) drafts. Several English players dominate the BBL list to earn top dollars in the second draft edition, while the WBBL will kick off its inaugural draft this season.
The superstars from the men's side include the World's No.1 ranked T20I bowler, Rashid Khan, South African veterans Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock, Pakistan superstars Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Rizwan, and the in-form Nicholas Pooran, among several others.
As for the women, the list boasts New Zealand skipper Sophie Divine, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur, and South African veteran Marizanne Kapp.
As far as the salaries go in the WBBL, platinum players will earn AUD$110,00, gold AUD$90,000, silver AUD$65,000, and bronze AUD$40,000.
The men's BBL has an increase in the overseas salary bands after the cap has gone up from AUD$1.9 million to AUD$3 million. Platinum players will now earn AUD$ 420,000, up from $340,000 last year, but only if they are available for the entire season, including the final.
Gold players will earn AUD$300,000, silver AUD$200,000, and bronze AUD$100,000, with no caveat of minimum matches required for those players.
Melbourne Stars, who finished at the bottom in the BBL last season, will have the first pick in this year's draft via a weighted lottery system, with Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes having the second and third picks, respectively.
Sydney Thunder were awarded the first pick in the WBBL draft through a similar lottery system, with the Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers drawn to the second and third picks, respectively.
Both drafts will take place on Sunday, September 3, with the 9th edition of the WBBL going from October 19 to December 2 and the 13th BBL edition from December 7 to January 24.
Perth Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers will enter the upcoming season as the BBL and WBBL defending champions.
Platinum BBL nominees
Gus Atkinson, Sam Billings, Harry Brook, Joe Clarke, Zak Crawley, Tom Curran, Quinton De Kock, Faf Du Plessis, Martin Guptill, Alex Hales, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Rashid Khan, Shadab Khan, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Colin Munro, Nicholas Pooran, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan, Rilee Rossouw, Phil Salt, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, James Vince
Platinum WBBL nominees
Chamari Athapaththu, Lauren Bell, Tazmin Brits, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Nida Dar, Sophie Devine, Deandra Dottin, Richa Ghosh, Sarah Glenn, Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Harmanpreet Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Heather Knight, Hayley Matthews, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Stafanie Taylor, Chloe Tryon, Pooja Vastrakar, Laura Wolvaardt, Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt