Afghanistan Premier League 2026-27 Auction: Full Squads, List Of All Players Sold, Most Expensive Buys

Aakash Saini

Afghanistan Premier League 2026 auction [Source: @theaplt20/x]

The historic auction of Afghanistan Cricket Board’s (ACB) ambitious Afghanistan Premier League (APL) reboot took place on Tuesday, November 3 in the UAE.

Since the APL 2026-27 season is scheduled to commence in late-December, all five competing franchises finalized its 19-player squads by purchasing 18 cricketers each at the bidding event.

Each franchise was already assigned its captain prior to the auction itself, with two particular franchises swapping their skippers in the middle of the drafts.

Here is a look at the list of all players sold, complete squads and some of the most expensive purchases of the APL 2026-27 season.

APL 2026-27: Teams and Captains

The five competing franchises each received a captain prior to the APL 2026-27 auction. However, on the day of the bidding event, Nangarhar Cosmic and Team Paktia franchises exchanged their skippers. Here is a look at all five teams, as well as their captains for the inaugural APL season next month.

Akcel United Kabul - Azmatullah Omarzai
Balkh - Ibrahim Zadran
Kandahar Warriors - Rashid Khan
Nangarhar Cosmic - Rahmat Shah
Paktia - Rahmanullah Gurbaz

APL 2026-27: Full Squads

Each APL franchise purchased 18 cricketers each (local + overseas) at the APL 2026-27 auction to finalize their 19-player squads for the upcoming inaugural edition of the tournament.

Afghanistan Create History, Achieve Their Highest-Ever ODI Team Ranking

Akcel United Kabul Squad for APL 2026-27

Platinum: Azmatullah Omarzai (local), Johnson Charles (overseas)
Diamond: Fazalhaq Farooqi, Dushmantha Chameera.
Gold: Mujeeb ur Rehman, Imran Mir, Sharafuddin Ashraf, D'arcy Short, Shamim Hossain.
Silver: Imran Tahir, Hazratullah Zazai, Dawood Ahmadzai, Abdul Rahman Rahmani, Saleem Safi.
Emerging: Uzairullah Niazi, Khalid Ahmadzai, Keramatullah.
Supplementary: Bahir Shah Mahboob, Curtis Campher.

Team Balkh Squad for APL 2026-27

Platinum: Ibrahim Zadran (local), Moeen Ali (overseas)
Diamond: AM Ghazanfar, Luke Wood.
Gold: Gulbadin Naib, Sediqullah Atal, Mohammad Waseem, Afsar Zazai, Abdullah Ahmadzai (Wildcard).
Silver: Tom Moores, Zia ur Rehman Akbar, Abdullah Tarakhail, Colin Ackermann, Waqar Salamkheil.
Emerging: Salam Khan Ahmadzai, Azizullah Miakhil, Abdul Aziz Khan.
Supplementary: Qais Ahmad, Chris Wood.

Kandahar Warriors Squad for APL 2026-27

Platinum: Rashid Khan (local), Mohammad Amir (overseas)
Diamond: Mohammad Nabi, Joe Clarke.
Gold: Karim Janat, Hassan Eisakhil, Fareed Malik, Kusal Perera, Tymal Mills.
Silver: Mohammad Shahzad, Muslim Musa, Dwaine Pretorius, George Munsey, Allah Noor Naseri.
Emerging: Numan Shah Agha, Usman Khan, Naseer Maroofkhil.
Supplementary: Shawkat Zaman, Ibrahim Masood.

Nangarhar Cosmic Squad for APL 2026-27

Platinum: Rahmat Shah (local), Alex Hales (overseas)
Diamond: Darwish Rasooli, Shakib Al Hasan
Gold: Kamindu Mendis, Zia ur Rehman Sharifi, Mohammad Akram Zazai, Ikram Alikhil, Junaid Siddiqui.
Silver: Zahir Khan Pakteen, Ismatullah Alam, Yamin Ahmadzai, Amir Jangoo, Shafiqullah Ghafari.
Emerging: Faisal Khan Shinozada, Bahar Ali Shinwari, Islam Khan Zazai.
Supplementary: Aftab Alam, Zubairullah Akbari.

Team Paktia Squad for APL 2026-27

Platinum: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (local), Wanindu Hasaranga (overseas)
Diamond: Noor Ahmad, Nahid Rana.
Gold: Ijaz Ahmadzai, Farmanullah Safi, Colin Munro, David Wiese, Hashmatullah Shahidi.
Silver: Hasibullah Lakanwal, Nangeyalia Kharote, Gerhard Erasmus, Olly Stone, Masood Gurbaz.
Emerging: Abid Mohammadi, Khalid Taniwal, Wahidullah Zadran.
Supplementary: Sediqullah Pacha, Khalil Gurbaz.

Who are the most expensive buys of APL 2026-27 Auction?

The five captains, namely Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah all fetched the biggest pay cheque of $120,000 each under the Platinum (local) category.

However, overseas players like Mohammad Amir, Johnson Charles, Alex Hales, Wanindu Hasaranga and Moeen Ali became the most expensive purchases of the APL 2026-27 auction under the Platinum overseas category, making $100,000 each.