DUBAI 29 August 2018: Afghanistan Cricket Board and Snixer Sports has announced the launch of the inaugural season of Afghanistan Premium League T20 (APLT20) in Dubai.
They unveiled the league logo, followed by the official launch, participating teams and their owners announcement. The youngest T20 league in the world has 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 representing five regions of the country, namely:
- Kabul
- Kandahar
- Nangarhar
- Paktia and
- Balkh
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 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 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.”
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.”
They 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, he added.
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.