APL 2018: All you need to know

The inaugural edition of the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) is all set to get underway from October 5 in the United Arab Emirates. The country is hosting a lot of cricket nowadays and will be looking to make the most of this league after the wonderful organisation of the recently concluded Asia Cup which India won for the seventh time. A total of 23 T20 matches will be played between five teams and the action will go on until October 21.

All the matches of the competition will be played at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium with the Test series between Australia and Pakistan set to be played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Five teams, namely, Kabul Zwanan, Paktia Panthers, Kandahar Kings, Nangarhar Leopards and Balkh Legends will fight it out for the ultimate glory.

This T20 league is a huge step towards Afghanistan’s betterment in cricket as a lot of youngsters will be able to rub the shoulders with the best in the business. The likes of Brendon McCullum, Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Mushfiqur Rahim among many others will grace their presence in the tournament. However, Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to not allow its active players to feature in the competition must’ve harmed the team combinations.

Only Shahid Afridi will get the No Objection Certificate (NOC) as he is a retired player and will play for Paktia Panthers. This will also be a huge tournament for Afghanistan superstars Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi who have lit up the overseas T20 leagues previously. Even the other cricketers will get an opportunity to shine now and a good performance here might earn them an IPL contract next year.

Here’s all you need to know about the APL 2018:

Squads

Kabul Zwanan: Laurie Evans, Ali Khan, Luke Ronchi, Colin Ingram, Wayne Parnell, Rashid Khan(c), Javed Ahmadi, Afsar Zazai, Fareed Ahmad, Shahidullah Kamal, Hazratullah Zazai, Muslim Musa, Zamir Khan, Nijat Masood, Nasir Totakhil, Zahir Shehzad, Usman Adil, Fitratullah Khawari, Shawkat Zaman

Paktia Panthers: Yamin Ahmadzai, Azmatullah, Rahmanullah, Samiullah Shenwari, Ihsanullah Janat, Yousuf Zazai, Zia-ur-Rehman, Shahid Afridi, Calum MacLeod, Cameron Delport, Sikandar Raza, Isuru Udana, Mohammad Shahzad(c), Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fazal Rahman

Kandahar Kings: Nasir Jamal, Waqarullah Ishaq, Waheedullah Shafaq, Mohammad Naveed, Sayed Shirzad, Karim Sadiq, Karim Janat, Brendon McCullum, Najibullah Zadran, Kevin O Brien, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Mithun, Soumya Sarkar, Tymal Mills, Paul Stirling, Asghar Afghan(c), Waqar Salamkheil, Amir Hamza, Ashish Bagai

Nangarhar Leopards: Andre Russell, Andre Fletcher, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ben Cutting, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Najeeb Tarakai, Mitchell McClenaghan, Johnson Charles, Anton Devcich, Rahmat Shah, Naveen-ul-Haq, Zahir Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Imran Janat, Khaiber Omar, Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Fazal Haque, Nasratullah

Balkh Legends: Dilshan Munaweera, Malcolm Waller, Ravi Bopara, Ryan ten Doeschate, Colin Munro, Ben Laughlin, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Nabi(c), Gulbadin Naib, Usman Ghani, Aftab Alam, Ikram Ali Khil, Darwish Rasooli, Farhan Zakhil, Mirwais Ashraf, Tariq Stanikzai, Samiullah, Qais Ahmad, Asadullah Matani

Schedule

All the matches will be played in Sharjah

Broadcast Details

TV – DSport

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