Du Plessis, Pollard, Russell, Boult among platinum players for BBL draft

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis en route his 96 v Lucknow Super Giants at the DY Patil Stadium. Pic/PTI

Big Bash League (BBL) revealed its platinum players who will be eligible to be selected in the first round of Sunday's BBL draft. It also showed the latest addition to the BBL draft.

In addition to ace New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult and powerful all-arounder Andre Russell, the Big Bash League has announced 12 platinum-level players who are eligible to be selected in the first round of the inaugural BBL Draft. Russell played five games for the club last season, making him eligible for retention by the Melbourne Stars, who have the second pick in Sunday's BBL 12 Draft.

Players get to nominate their price category and their availability in terms of the number of games they can play. The BBL will once again be a 14-game season plus finals and CA are realistic that not all overseas players will be available for the whole competition.

Players will be put into four categories: Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The players themselves can choose to enter the Gold, Silver, or Bronze band. As per ESPN Cricinfo Platinum players will be paid an estimated $AUD340,000. Gold players will earn approximately $AUD260,000, Silver $AUD175,000 and Bronze $AUD100,000. Only the 12 platinum players are permitted to be selected in the first round of the BBL Draft, while platinum or gold level players may be selected in the second round.

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The nomination period ended overnight on Sunday, with 279 players submitting their names. Other late-draft nominees for platinum status include England stars Jason Roy, Sam Billings, David Willey, and Chris Jordan.

Keeper-bat Billings (Sydney Thunder) and right-arm quick Jordan (Sydney Sixers) are also eligible for retention. Along with veteran left-armer Wahab Riaz, who has a rich white-ball history in Australia with nine wickets in three games during the 2015 ODI World Cup, including 2-54 in that infamous spell to Shane Watson, leg-spinner Shadab Khan is the first player from Pakistan to be announced as a draft nominee. Khan is also eligible for retention by the Sixers.

Platinum BBL 12 Draft list includes international stars Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Jason Roy (England), Liam Livingstone (England), Sam Billings (England), Kieron Pollard (West Indies), Andre Russell (West Indies), David Willey (England), Shadab Khan (Pakistan), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Chris Jordan (England), Trent Boult (New Zealand).

Earlier David Warner returned to Sydney Thunders after a gap of nine years and signed a two-year contract with the BBL team.

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