Durrant Pate/Contributor

The Jamaica Kingsmen have officially announced their seven-man overseas contingent for the 2026 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL), with the side having a distinct Pakistani flavour, whilst striking a calculated balance between elite Pakistan internationals and emerging sub-continental talent.

The lineup features Maaz Sadaqat, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Hassan Khan, Hunain Shah, Shayan Jahangir and Tayyab Arif. The Pakistani contingent has been meticulously assembled with a phased availability plan designed to maximise impact across the tournament’s duration. 

All seven players were also on the books of Kingsmen’s parent franchise, Hyderabad, which reached the PSL 2026 final earlier this year. The Kingsmen’s overseas roster will operate in distinct waves. 

Hassan Khan and Hunain Shah commit to the full campaign, arriving from day one to provide a settled all-rounder anchor and a strike-bowling spearhead respectively.

Fresh batting artillery 

Shayan Jahangir and Tayyab Arif will also join at the season’s outset, completing the overseas core for the opening fixtures. Then, on August 19, the contingent pivots. Saim Ayub, Maaz Sadaqat, and Usman Khan will link up with the squad, replacing Jahangir and Arif in a strategic handover that injects fresh batting artillery for the tournament’s decisive backend.

The CPL will be Sadaqat’s first overseas T20 league stint outside of the PSL. He is an explosive left-hand top-order batsman who can also pitch in with left-arm finger spin. He recently earned call-ups to Pakistan’s ODI and T20I squads as well. 

Sadaqat had a strike rate of 178.08 in PSL 2026, the highest among 38 batters who faced at least 100 balls in the competition. 

Ayub is a more familiar face in the CPL, having been the second-highest run-getter in 2023 with 478 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 142.26 for Guyana Amazon Warriors. 

He has developed into an all-rounder who can also bowl mystery spin. 

Record-equalling eight nations this year

CPL 2026 will be played in a record-equalling eight nations this year, with fixtures in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. The CPL will run from August 7 until September 20 this year.

Kingsmen will become the second Jamaican team to feature in the CPL after the Jamaica Tallawahs, who have been defunct since 2023. The franchise is owned by Fawad Sarwar, a Pakistani businessman based in the United States.

Earlier during the draft, Kingsmen had snapped up local Jamaican stalwarts Andre Russell and Rovman Powell. Powell will lead Kingsmen after previously captaining the Jamaica franchise to the title in 2022, when they were called Tallawahs. 

Russell and Powell come into the CPL on the back of winning MLC 2026 with LA Knight Riders. Left-arm wristspinner Vitel Lawes, who made a splash on his international debut against New Zealand in Guyana recently, is set to make his CPL bow for Kingsmen next month.

Jamaica Kingsmen squad

Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Keemo Paul, Keacy Carty, Jediah Blades, Shaqkere Parris, Odean Smith, Vitel Lawes (Right to Match Option), Romaine Morris, Kirk McKenzie (Breakout player), Kelvin Pitman (Breakout player), Jeavor Royal (Breakout player), Maaz Sadaqat, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Hassan Khan, Hunain Shah, Shayan Jahangir and Tayyab Arif.