ILT20: Gulf Giants swoop for PSL record-breaker Usman Khan in UAE player draft

Gulf Giants have reinforced their squad ahead of their DP World International League T20 title defence by signing the player who holds the record for the fastest Pakistan Super League century.

The champions recruited Usman Khan on Friday morning as the six franchises completed their UAE player quotas ahead of season two, which starts in January.

Thirteen players earned deals to fill the 24 spaces available for domestic players in the T20 competition.

That includes eight UAE-raised players who are under 23 years old. Among the remainder are players who are yet to feature in international competition for the country, and some of whom are yet to qualify for selection.

Usman struck the faster ton in the history of Pakistan’s T20 franchise tournament back in March. He reached the milestone in 43 balls opening the batting for Multan Sultans against Quetta Gladiators in Rawalpindi.

That innings brought him national celebrity in his country of origin, and speculation quickly gathered that he might be on the brink of Pakistan selection.

However, Usman immediately scotched that talk, saying he was committed to qualifying for his adopted country and playing for the UAE.

It had been hoped he would be available for the selection for the national team in their all-important T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier in Nepal, starting later this month.

He arrived in Dubai in October 2020, meaning he should be eligible under the ICC’s three-year residency rule.

However, there has been a debate over whether he has spent the sufficient amount of days in each of those three years in the country.

ICC rules dictate the player must spend “at least 10 months actual physical presence in the relevant country” to be considered a resident.

Usman has spent