UAE to Host Afghanistan Premier League in October

T20 tournaments have become quite popular all across the globe. Almost all of the cricket playing nations have their domestic T20 leagues.

It has grown famous over a period. Now the inaugural edition of the Afghanistan Premier League is all set to be held in the United Arab Emirates. It will be held from October later in the year.

There will be auctions first to purchase the teams. After that, a player’s draft will be held. At least more than 40 overseas players will be part of the league, as it will give it a more international presence. There were only a handful of some foreign cricketers in the local Shpageeza Cricket League which took place in Afghanistan last year.

There was a bomb blast near the Kabul International Stadium. The incident forced most of the players to move out of the country due to security reasons. With the venue of APL being held in UAE, it will surely attract more foreign players to the tournament.

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Chairman of Afghanistan Cricket Board expresses his delight 

Shukrullah Arif Mashal, The Chairman of Afghanistan Cricket Board,  confirmed the news.

APL will be held in UAE in October. The chairman also expressed his excitement and delight at the prospect of more than 40 overseas cricketers playing in the tournament.

“Their presence will raise the quality of the league from the Shpageeza Cricket League that we organise at home. We are thankful to the overseas cricketers for helping Afghanistan Cricket rise to the next level,” Shukrullah was quoted as saying by the Business Standard.

He further thanked the Government for giving them full support to organise the franchise based tournament.

“We are grateful to our government for its support and encouragement. We believe we can provide our youth the platform to shine and move away from negative influences,” he added. Meanwhile, the Chief Executive of ACB Shafiqullah Asamat Stanikzai said, “cricket “has been a unifying tool, contributing to peace, development and stability in the country and around the globe. The Board aims to make APL T20 among the world’s top three leagues.”

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