Mohammed Rizwan and Nicholas Pooran Withdraw From Upcoming BBL 13 Draft

Mohammad Rizwan plays a shot as Nicholas Pooran looks on [X.com]

Star wicketkeeper batters, Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan and West Indies Nicholas Pooran have withdrawn from the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL) 2023-24 overseas players draft. The BBL 13 Draft will be held on September 3 in Melbourne.

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Both Rizwan and Pooran, who were categorised as platinum picks, have pulled out as they will be engaged in national duties for Pakistan and West Indies, respectively. Pakistan will be touring Australia for a three-Test tour, which will clash with BBL, while West Indies have white-ball commitments against England in December. 

Meanwhile, former South Africa Women's captain Dane van Niekerk will miss the upcoming Women's BBL 2023 after the batter suffered an injury in the recently concluded The Hundred Women 2023. Van Niekerk fractured her right thumb while leading Oval Invincibles in the 100-ball competition.

BBL 13 will commence on December 7, and will go on until January 24., while the WBBL will begin on October 16.

As many as 25 players are included as Platinum picks in both BBL and WBBL Drafts. This will be the first-ever players draft for WBBL, which will see 122 players being nominated.

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Several high-profile players like Harry Brook, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Rashid Khan, Shadab Khan, Alex Hales, and Haris Rauf are included in the BBL draft.  

The WBBL draft list is no less, with players such as Chamari Athapathhu, Alice Capsey, Nida Dar, Sophie Devine, Richa Ghosh, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Heather Knight dropping their names in the hat.