Dubai, 11 September 2018 :   Afghanistan Cricket Board and Snixer Sports today held the Afghanistan Premium League T20 (APLT20) players draft for its inaugural 2018 edition. Consisting of 23 matches, the first season of the league is scheduled to take place from 5th October 2018 – 23rd October 2018. 

 

A total of five teams representing five regions of Afghanistan will play in the tournament. These franchises with their home ground are Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Paktia  and Balkh. 

 

Final Draft after the 1st three rounds was as follows 

 

S No	Team	Icon Players	Diamond Overseas Player	Diamond Players	Gold Overseas Players
1	Paktia	Shahid Afridi	Thisara Parera	Mohammad Shahzad	Cameron Delport
2	Kabul	Rashid Khan	Luke Ronchi	Hazrat Zazai	Collin Ingram
3	Balkh	Chris Gayle	Colin Munro	Mohammad Nabi	Ravi Popara
4	Nangarhar	Andre Russel	Tamim Iqbal	Mujeeb Zadran	Ben Cutting
5	Kandahar	Brendon McCullum	Wahab Riaz	Mohammad Asghar	Afghan Paul Sterling

With over  400 players available for draft from 25 countries, each team will comprise of a minimum of 17  players and a Maximum of 20 Players. All five franchises will effectively buy the players for their squads from players from 25 countries including Afghanistan, UAE, Netherlands, Scotland, Canada, Uman, Kenya, USA, Scotland, Germany, Hong Kong, Nepal, Italy, Oman, South Africa, England cc, England , Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, West indies, Zimbabwe, New Zealand , Australia & Pakistan. 

 

There are 17 players from the UAE and 98 players from Afghanistan up for grabs in the inaugural player draft.  

 

Speaking at the occasion  Mr Shafiqullah Stanikzai, CEO, Afghanistan Cricket Board said “Each owner is supposed to have  a Minimum $5,55,000 and Maximum $700,000/- player purse.  The Franchise will have an additional purse of $145,000/- to purchase 3 players and if there is an unspent amount after picking the entire team, the same can be retained. 

                                    

Mr Ashish Sethi, CEO Snixer Sports, investment partner for APL said “We have seen phenomenal interest from players from around the world. Afghanistan has been growing in stature not just as a Cricket loving country but also in serious talent. Players like Rashid (Khan),  (Mohammad) Asghar are a testament to their seriousness and dedication in the International arena.  This league will not just provide long term exposure to the but also be a good source of entertainment to the International audiences”.  

 

The franchisees will be permitted for replacement of a player due to injury/unavoidable circumstances only on prior approval of the APL Governing Council. In case of an injury of a player, the replacement will be permitted only after assessment by a physiotherapist nominated by the ACB. The replacement player should necessarily be from the player pool of players available from the draft list. q Franchisees will not be permitted replacement, if a player is barred from the APL on disciplinary grounds. 

 

The final squads for the APLT20 will be confirmed by the end of the day

 

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

 

About Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB)

The establishment of Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) was approved by a presidential decree on 2nd June 2009 to look into key areas of administrative development and reform; cricket development; infrastructure development; and financial sustainability and growth. The aim for the foundation was to bring it on par with prevalent practices in other countries. ACB developed its five-year strategic plan in 2011 followed by the current strategic plan that is due for renewal in 2019. 

 

The increased independence as a result of its recognition as an independent governing body allowed ACB to adopt good governance practices to ensure that key relevant results are delivered in terms of accountability, responsibility, transparency and solidarity. Its parent body The Afghanistan Cricket Federation (ACB) was granted affiliate membership by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001.  For further details please visit www.cricket.af

Snixer Sports was established by a group of cricket enthusiasts offering front-line sports management services. Its services include organizing local events to managing entire international-level tournaments, not to mention managing sports personalities, sports marketing solutions, for a cricket event. Snixer was previously known as Expert Eventers. The company since its establishment has garnered reliable partnership with its clients Every event is organized with a tailored approach, combining the ultra-modern infrastructural excellence with our innovative approach. For further details please visit www.snixersports.com.