Afghanistan Premier League: Gayle, Afridi, Russell named icon players

T20 superstars Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Andre Russell, Brendon McCullum and Rashid Khan have been named as the icon players for the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League during a players’ draft, held on Monday. The inaugural edition of APL will run from October 5 to October 21 and will see five franchises vying for the title....

T20 superstars Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Andre Russell, Brendon McCullum and Rashid Khan have been named as the icon players for the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League during a players’ draft, held on Monday.

The inaugural edition of APL will run from October 5 to October 21 and will see five franchises vying for the title. The five teams are Pakita, Kabul, Balkh, Nangarh and Kandahar.

While Afridi was snapped by Pakita, Gayle went to Balkh. Homegrown spin sensation Rashid will play for Kabul while West Indian allrounder Andre Russell will turn out for Nangarh. Former New Zealand captain McCullum will represent Kandahar.

Paktia: Shahid Afridi (icon), 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 (icon), 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 (icon), 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 (icon), 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 (icon), 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

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