APL 2018: Best XI of the tournament

With over two weeks of some riveting action, the inaugural edition of the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) ended being a huge success. The motive of the league- to help unearth the young talent in the country was definitely fulfilled. It was the Balkh Legends who emerged to be victorious in the competition ultimately.

During the course of the tournament, there were some terrific performances on display. Some experienced players stepped up big time and played unbelievable innings for their respective teams. Also, youngsters, who have got a chance to rub shoulder with some of the finest cricketers from around the world were very impressive.

Players from Afghanistan, mostly aged between 16 to 25, must’ve learnt a lot from this tournament. Going into the World Cup next year, the APL has given the Afghan team a lot of options to explore. On that note, here is the best XI from the tournament which is mostly dominated by the Afghanistan players.

Here is the best XI of APL 2018:

1. Chris Gayle | Balkh Legends

Chris Gayle took some time initially in the tournament to get going. He recorded scores of 20, 20 and 12 in his first three matches making it 52 at an average just above 17. However, just as we were reaching towards the business end of the tournament, this man got into his zone.

He was instrumental in helping his side, Balkh Legends win the title. 80, 73, 54, 56 were his scores in the remaining four games that he played making it four consecutive half-centuries. The Jamaican played critical innings both in the semi-final and the final and ended the tournament as the third highest run scorer. He got 315 runs in 7 innings at an average of 45.