Afghanistan Cricket Board announce the inaugural season of Afghanistan Premium League T20 (APLT20), post receiving its sanction to initiate Afghanistan’s franchise-based T20 league. On Wednesday ACB unveiled the league logo, followed by the give participating teams and their owners. The youngest T20 league in the world also announced a draft system to pick players for the teams . The drafting will take place in the 1st week of September 2018 in Dubai.

The Afghanistan T20 Premier League (APL) will have five teams, namely Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Paktia and Balkh, representing five regions of the country.. The first season of the league is scheduled to take place from 5th – 23rd October 2018 consisting of 23 matches. All the matches will be staged in Sharjah and ACB has already received endorsement from the Emirates Cricket Board to stage the league at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE.

While making the announcement Mr Shafiqullah Stanikzai, CEO, Afghanistan Cricket Board said “The Afghanistan Cricket Board has achieved in its short stint not only the Full Member status of ICC (International Cricket Council) as well as Test status. We are delighted that today we witness the launch of our own league which will provide global fans and audience an opportunity to watch competitive cricket both at the stadium and on their TV screens worldwide.”

Mr Stanikzai continued “APL is envisioned to become a leading platform for local and international players to showcase their talent, provide a landscape for the development of coaching and playing infrastructures, mentor emerging cricketers, engage with fans all over the world, and provide lucrative opportunities for brands and businesses to connect with the global market.”

Mr Ashish Sethi, CEO Snixer Sports, investment partner for APL said “We already have registrations from key international players who already have a reputation in the T20 format. This include Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Rashid Khan, Brendon McCullum, Misbah ul Haq, Kumar Sangakara, Thisara Perera, Imran Tahir and Tamim Iqbal. ACB has already produced great cricketing stars like Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Zadran, Mohammad Nabi and with the APL T20 we look forward to creating a platform for cricketing stars to showcase their talent.”

APL would be the second T20 league by ACB besides its domestic Shpageeza Cricket League that has already seen immense popularity both in the country and beyond.