Rashid Khan became the first player selected in The Hundred as West Indies great Chris Gayle went undrafted for the inaugural staging of the competition.
The 21-year-old Afghanistan spinner has had a sensational start to his international career, averaging under 20 with the ball in all three formats including 81 wickets at 12.03 in Twenty20. He was made the first overall pick for the competition by the Trent Rockets.
West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell went next to the Southern Brave, with Australia batsman Aaron Finch third to the Leeds-based Northern Superchargers as the first-round picks came thick and fast.
Cannot believe @henrygayle wasn’t guaranteed a spot in the 100 … He is box Office .. Kids love him .. people love watching him .. He should have been involved imo .. 👍 — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 20, 2019
Gayle was not among them, though – and with players not eligible to be selected if they failed to make their allotted price point, the 37-year-old will be absent from the competition along with international pacemen Lasith Malinga and Kagiso Rabada.
Each of the eight teams had two picks in the first round, barring the Phoenix, Spirit and Oval Invincibles who had allocated the second spots in the £125,000 price band to “local icon” players.
The Welsh Fire selected Australia duo Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith, with the Invincibles adding West Indies spinner Sunil Narine to the pre-selected Jason Roy.
The Manchester Originals pair South Africa spinner Imran Tahir with Dane Vilas, already a successful Vitality Blast overseas player for Lancashire.
All-rounders Glenn Maxwell (London Spirit) and Liam Livingstone (Birmingham Phoenix) completed the first selections, accompanying ‘icon’ picks Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali respectively.
