Shahid Afridi, Chris Gayle, Rashid Khan, Brendon McCullum and Andre Russell have been named as ‘icon players’ for their respective franchises in the inaugural Afghanistan Premier league, which is set to begin from October 5.
Each of the five teams – from Paktia, Kabul, Balkh, Nangarhar and Kandahar – boast of a 17 to 20-member squad. Apart from local players, each squad also needs to have five overseas cricketers and one Associate player, picked via a draft system.
The 17-day tournament will also feature international players such as Chris Jordan, Thisara Perera, Luke Ronchi, Wayne Parnell, Colin Munro, Ravi Bopara, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Cutting and Wahab Riaz.
Sandeep Lamichhane, Calum Macleod and Ryan ten Doeschate are among the popular faces from Associate nations to be taking part in the competition.
Squads
Paktia Shahid Afridi, Thisara Perera, Mohammad Shahzad, Cameron Delport, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Samiullah Shinwari, Chris Jordan, Faheem Ashraf, Luke Wright, Amatullah Omerzai, Rahmanullah Garbaz, Zia Urhaman Akber, Calum Macleod, Tahir Adil, Yousaf Zazi, Fazal Zazai
Kabul: Rashid Khan, Luke Ronchi, Hazrat Zazai, Colin Ingram, Farid Malik, Javed Ahmadi, Sohail Tanvir, Laurie Evans, Wayne Parnell, Shahidullah, Muslim Musa, Afsar Khan Zazi, Muhammad Ashan Ali Khan, Zahir Shirzad, Fitrat Khawry, Usman Adil, Shawkat Zaman, Nasir Totakhil, Zamir Khan
Balkh: Chris Gayle, Colin Munro, Mohammad Nabi, Ravi Bopara, Aftab Alam, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Irfan, Ben Laughlin, Karman Akmal, Qais Ahmed, Usman Ghani, Ikrain Alikhil, Ryan ten Doeschate, Tariq Skanikai, Asadullah Matani, Samiullah Salarzai, Farhan Zakhil, Mohammad Nawaz, Darwish Rasooli.
Nangarhar: Andre Russell, Tamim Iqbal, Mujeeb Zadran, Ben Cutting, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Najibullah Taraki, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Hafeez, Rahmat Shah, Naveen Ul Haq, Zahir Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Fazal Haq, Imran Janat, Nasratullah Quarishi, Khyber Omar, Ibrahim Zadran, Faal Nazai.
Kandahar: Brendon McCullum, Wahab Riaz, Asghar Afghan, Paul Stirling, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Tymal Mills, Sam Billings, Iftkhar Ahmed, Hamza Hotak, Karim Sadeq, Sayed Shirzad, Mohammad Naveed, Waqar, Abdul Baqi, Waheed Shafaq, Waqarullah Ishaq, Nazir Jamal.
