Afghanistan Cricket Board have announced the the players draft for the inaugural season of Afghanistan Premier League (APLT20) will be held on 10th Sep 2018 in Dubai. The franchise ownership for the 5 team’s was recently announced as well.
The inaugural APLT20 will be competed between 5 Franchise teams in which 23 matches (as opposed to 24 announced initially) will be played in the tournament including round-robin phase and the knock-out phase from 5th – 21st October 2018 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE. The Five franchise team’s will be based on the city names of Kabul, Balkh, Paktia, Nangarhar and Kandahar.
Morelli Sports FZC, Plus Capital Ltd, SB Sports, VRock Mobiles and MS Legendary Man Entertainment have brought the franchises for Kabul, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Paktia and Balkh respectively.
Over 350+ players from 10 Full member countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, Australia, England, Ireland and Zimbabwe) and 6 Associate countries (UAE, Scotland, Hong Kong, Oman, Nepal and Canada) have registered for the players draft.
6 different categories (Icon, Diamond, Gold, Silver, ICC Associate and Emerging) will constitute the players from which the franchises will pick from and form the squads.
A total of 65 Associate member players (12 top-order batsmen, 12 middle-order batsmen, 24 all-rounders, 9 fast bowlers and 8 spinners) are listed in the “ICC Associate” category in the draft as per the list announced by APL T20 on their website.
ICC ASSOCIATE PLAYERS CATEGORY
| S/N | Name | Category | Playing Role | Country |
| TOP ORDER | ||||
| 1 | CHIRAG SURI | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | UAE |
| 2 | MOHAMMAD USMAN | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | UAE |
| 3 | RAMEEZ SHAHZAD | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | UAE |
| 4 | SAID KHALID SHAH | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | UAE |
| 5 | ASHFAQ AHMED | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | UAE |
| 6 | RYAN TEN DOESCHATE | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | NETHERLANDS |
| 7 | KYLE COETZER | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | SCOTLAND |
| 8 | MATTHEW CROSS | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT/WK | SCOTLAND |
| 9 | CALUM MACLEOD | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | SCOTLAND |
| 10 | SRIMANTHA WIJEYERATNE | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT/WK | CANADA |
| 11 | STEPHAN MYBOURGH | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | NETHERLANDS |
| 12 | ZEESHAN MAQSOOD | ICC AM | TOP ORDER BAT | OMAN |
| MIDDLE ORDER BATSMEN | ||||
| 1 | SHABBIR MALIK | ICC AM | MIDDLE ORDER BAT/WK | UAE |
| 2 | ADNAN MUFTI | ICC AM | MIDDLE ORDER BAT | UAE |
| 3 | PRESTON MOMMSEN | ICC AM | MIDDLE ORDER BAT | SCOTLAND |
| 4 | HAMZA TARIQ | ICC AM | MIDDDLE ORDER BAT/WK | CANADA |
| 5 | PETER BORREN | ICC AM | MIDDLE ORDER BATSMAN | NETHERLANDS |
| 6 | SAQLAIN HAIDER | ICC AM | MIDDLE ORDER BATS/WK | UAE |
| 7 | RIZWAN CHEEMA | ICC AM | MIDDLE ORDER BAT | CANADA |
| 8 | SCOTT EDWARDS | ICC AM | MIDDLE ORDER BAT | NETHERLANDS |
| 9 | JATINDER SINGH | ICC AM | MIDDLE ORDER BAT | OMAN |
| 10 | IRFAN KARIM | ICC AM | MIDDDLE ORDER BAT/WK | KENYA |
| 11 | IBRAHIM KHALEEL | ICC AM | MIDDDLE ORDER BAT/WK | USA |
| 12 | ROY SILVA | ICC AM | MIDDLE ORDER BAT | USA |
| ALL ROUNDERS | ||||
| 1 | AMJAD JAVED | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | UAE |
| 2 | MOHAMMAD NAVEED | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | UAE |
| 3 | AMIR HAYAT | ICC AM | ALL ROUNDER | UAE |
| 4 | ROHAN MUSTAFA | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | UAE |
| 5 | RICHIE BERRINGTON | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | SCOTLAND |
| 6 | GEORGE MUNSEY | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | SCOTLAND |
| 7 | CRAIG MESCHEDE | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | GERMANY |
| 8 | NIZAKAT KHAN | ICC AM | ALL ROUNDER | HONG KONG |
| 9 | ANSHUMAN RATH | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | HONG KONG |
| 10 | NIKHIL DUTTA | ICC AM | ALL ROUNDER | CANADA |
| 11 | JUNAID SIDDIQUE | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | CANADA |
| 12 | SAAD BIN ZAFAR | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | CANADA |
| 13 | NISARG PATEL | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | USA |
| 14 | MOHAMMAD ASGHAR HOTAK | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | CANADA |
| 15 | HIRAL PATEL | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | CANADA |
| 16 | NITISH KUMAR | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | CANADA |
| 17 | RUVINDU GUNASEKERA | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | CANADA |
| 18 | RAYYAN KHAN | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | CANADA |
| 19 | TANWIR AFZAL | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | HONG KONG |
| 20 | ROELOF VAN DER MERWE | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | NETHERLANDS |
| 21 | PARAS KHADKA | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | NEPAL |
| 22 | GARETH BERG | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | ITALY |
| 23 | SATSIMRANJIT SINGH DHINDSA | ICC AM | FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER | CANADA |
| 24 | ARSLAN KHAN | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | CANADA |
| FAST BOWLER | ||||
| 1 | MOHAMMAD AIZAZ KHAN | ICC AM | FAST BOWLER | HONG KONG |
| 2 | EHSAN NAWAZ | ICC AM | FAST BOWLER | HONG KONG |
| 3 | SOMPAL KAMI | ICC AM | FAST BOWLER | NEPAL |
| 4 | CECIL PERVEZ | ICC AM | FAST BOWLER | CANADA |
| 5 | SAFYAAN SHARIF | ICC AM | RIGHT ARM FAST BOWLER | SCOTLAND |
| 6 | SUFYAN MAHMOOD | ICC AM | FAST BOWLER | OMAN |
| 7 | ZAHOOR KHAN | ICC AM | RIGHT ARM FAST BOWLER | UAE |
| 8 | MUHAMMAD ASHAN ALI KHAN | ICC AM | RIGHT ARM FAST BOWLER | USA |
| 9 | QADEER AHMED KHAN | ICC AM | RIGHT ARM FAST BOWLER | UAE |
| SPIN BOWLER | ||||
| 1 | AHMED RAZA | ICC AM | LAS ORTHODOX | UAE |
| 2 | IMRAN HAIDER | ICC AM | LEG BREAK BOWLER | UAE |
| 3 | MAJID HAQ | ICC AM | OFF BREAK SPIN | SCOTLAND |
| 4 | BABAR HAYAT | ICC AM | SPIN-ALL-ROUNDER | HONG KONG |
| 5 | EHSAN KHAN | ICC AM | OFF BREAK SPIN | HONG KONG |
| 6 | MARK WATT | ICC AM | LAS ORTHODOX | SCOTLAND |
| 7 | HAMZA TAHIR | ICC AM | LAS ORTHODOX | SCOTLAND |
| 8 | ZAHEER MAQSOOD | ICC AM | ||
Glamorgan all-rounder Craig Meschede is listed as a German player, while Hampshire’s Gareth Berg is listed as an Italian player in the list.
Afghanistan Cricket Board in collaboration with an Indian based company, Sports Snixer, signed the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) as the organisers for the tournament and TCM Sports Mangement Pvt. Ltd will serve as the executing partner of Afghanistan Premier League (APLT20).
