Top Windies players to play in first season of Pakistan Super League

Lahore: Several leading West Indies cricketers have confirmed their participation in the first ever Pakistan Super League (PSL) scheduled to take place early next year, officials have said.

Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy have all signed up for the event to be held in February, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced while unveiling its preliminary plans for the T20 tournament, reports CMC on Tuesday.

Kevin Pietersen, Shakib Al Hasan, Grant Elliott and Tim Bresnan have also confirmed their participation, the PCB has said.

The release of the PSL song also highlighted the unveiling ceremony which featured popular Pakistani singers and actors as well as TV and movie stars.

The first edition of PSL will feature five franchise-based teams from Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad -- with prize money of $1 million.

The tournament, featuring 24 matches, is scheduled to run from February 4 to 24, one month before the World T20 in India.

The PCB has confirmed that it was in talks with the Emirates Cricket Board over the possibility of hosting the tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite confirming earlier that Doha, Qatar would serve as a venue.