*ISLAMABAD – Inaugural edition of Afghanistan Premier League 2018 draftswere held in Dubai.*
The player draft was held on Monday in Dubai where top Pakistani playerswere also picked up.
Shahid Afridi who has been picked up for the APL congratulated AfghanistanCricket Board for launching their own T20 league in a tweet. He expressedhis optimism to represent Paktia at the tournament.
Five teams will feature in the T20 league namely Balkh, Kabul, Kandahar,Nangarhar and Paktia.
Other Pakistani players will also grace the tournament with their presence.Wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and Muhammad Irfan will play for Balkh.Pacer Wahab Riaz and all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed will represent Kandahar.Nangarhar picked Muhammad Hafeez while Paktia roped in Faheem Ashraf.
Andre Russell along with local hero Rashid Khan have also been picked forthe icon category.
The tournament will commence from October 5 at Sharjah cricket stadium.
Squads:
*Paktia squad:* Shahid Afridi, Thisara Perera, Mohammad Shahzad, CameronDelport, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Samiullah Shinwari, Chris Jordan, FaheemAshraf, Luke Wright, Amatullah Omerzai, Rahmanullah Garbaz, Zia UrhamanAkber, Calum Macleod, Tahir Adil, Yousaf Zazi, Fazal Zazai
*Kabul squad:* Rashid Khan, Luke Ronchi, Hazrat Zazai, Colin Ingram, FaridMalik, Javed Ahmadi, Sohail Tanvir, Laurie Evans, Wayne Parnell,Shahidullah, Muslim Musa, Afsar Khan Zazi, Muhammad Ashan Ali Khan, ZahirShirzad, Fitrat Khawry, Usman Adil, Shawkat Zaman, Nasir Totakhil, ZamirKhan
*Balkh squad:* Chris Gayle, Colin Munro, Mohammad Nabi, Ravi Bopara, AftabAlam, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Irfan, Ben Laughlin, Kamran Akmal, QaisAhmed, Usman Ghani, Ikrain Alikhil, Ryan ten Doeschate, Tariq Skanikai,Asadullah Matani, Samiullah Salarzai, Farhan Zakhil, Mohammad Nawaz,Darwish Rasooli
*Nangarhar squad*: Andre Russell, Tamim Iqbal, Mujeeb Zadran, Ben Cutting,Shafiqullah Shafaq, Najibullah Taraki, Mitchell McClenaghan, MushfiqurRahim, Mohammad Hafeez, Rahmat Shah, Naveen Ul Haq, Zahir Khan, SandeepLamichhane, Fazal Haq, Imran Janat, Nasratullah Quarishi, Khyber Omar,Ibrahim Zadran, Faal Nazai
*Kandahar squad*: Brendon McCullum , Wahab Riaz, Asghar Afghan, PaulStirling, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Tymal Mills, Sam Billings,Iftikhar Ahmed, Hamza Hotak, Karim Sadeq, Sayed Shirzad, Mohammad Naveed,Waqar, Abdul Baqi, Waheed Shafaq, Waqarullah Ishaq, Nazir Jamal