Afridi, Gayle to feature in inaugural Afghan T20 league

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi will feature in the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League to be played in the UAE next month.

Afridi will join several iconic overseas players including West Indian master blaster Chris Gayle and New Zealander Brendon McCullum in this latest addition to the T20 circuit to be held from October 5-21.

Afridi and other overseas stars were picked as “icon players”, along with Rashid Khan by the five franchises. They will line-up alongside Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Nabi, Asghar Afghan and other stars of Afghanistan cricket. The five franchises - representing Paktia, Kabul, Balkh, Nangarhar and Kandahar - picked their squads via draft in Dubai on Monday night. Each team had to select between 17 and 20 players, with five overseas and one Associate player compulsorily in the squad.

Full squads:

Paktia squad: 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 squad: Rashid Khan (icon), Luke Ronchi, Hazrat Zazai, Colin Ingram, Fareed Ahmad, Javed Ahmadi, Sohail Tanvir, Laurie Evans, Wayne Parnell, Shahidullah, Muslim Musa, Afsar Zazai, Ali Khan, Zahir Shirzad, Fitrat Khawry, Usman Adil, Shawkat Zaman, Nasir Totakhil, Zamir Khan

Balkh squad: Chris Gayle (icon), Colin Munro, Mohammad Nabi, Ravi Bopara, Aftab Alam, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Irfan, Ben Laughlin, Kamran Akmal, Qais Ahmad, Usman Ghani, Ikrain Alikhil, Ryan ten Doeschate, Tariq Skanikai, Asadullah Matani, Samiullah Salarzai, Farhan Zakhil, Mohammad Nawaz, Darwish Rasooli

Nangarhar squad: Andre Russell (icon), Tamim Iqbal, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ben Cutting, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Najeeb Tarakai, 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, Fazal Nazi

Kandahar squad: Brendon McCullum (icon), Wahab Riaz, Asghar Afghan, Paul Stirling, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Tymal Mills, Sam Billings, Iftikhar Ahmed, Amir Hamza, Karim Sadiq, Sayed Shirzad, Mohammad Naveed, Waqar, Abdul Baqi, Waheed Shafaq, Waqarullah Ishaq, Nasir Jamal