Afghanistan Premier League is scheduled to kick-start this year.
The International Cricket Council(ICC) has given a green signal to Afghanistan Cricket Board(ACB)'s long-standing ambition to have their own franchise-based T20 league. Afghanistan Premier League(APL), that is scheduled to inaugurate this October, has now received a big boost by getting sanctioned from the game's governing body.
According to a release on the ACB website, ICC’s approval has enabled “member boards to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to players associated with the respective boards”.
The five teams - Kabul, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Balkh and Paktia - will compete for the glory in the tournament that is will be played between 5th and 21st October at the historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates(UAE).
The league marks yet another step in the right direction for Afghanistan Cricket fraternity. They have reached the 10-Team ODI World Cup next year, are the eighth-ranked T20I side and played their maiden Test against India this June.
The APL remains completely different from Afghanistan's existing domestic T20 tournament - Shpageeza League, which is played by 5 regional sides and Kabul.
The process of bidding for the ownership of five franchises going on, and it is likely to be concluded later in August.
(Inputs from ICC)