Shakib, Nahid, Shamim get teams

Afghanistan Premier League: Shakib, Nahid, Shamim get teams

Three Bangladeshi cricketers — Shakib Al Hasan, Nahid Rana and Shamim Hossain — were picked by different franchises on Tuesday in the Afghanistan Premier League T20 (APL) players’ draft, which was held in Dubai.

Team Paktia roped in pace sensation Nahid while Nangarhar Cosmic picked Bangladesh veteran Shakib in their second-round picks in the Diamond Category.

Meanwhile, Akcel United Kabul picked Shamim Hossain from the Gold Category. 462 players were expected to go under the hammer across five tiers, which also include the Platinum, Silver and Emerging categories.

Bangladesh white-ball captain Litton Das, Tawhid Hridoy, Shoriful Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Rishad Hossain, Mahmudullah Riyad, Hasan Mahmud, Jaker Ali, Mahedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, and Mohammad Saifuddin and several others also registered in the players’ draft but were not picked.

The revamped five-team APL is expected to get underway on December 27. While official venue details are yet to be confirmed, multiple reports suggest the tournament will be staged entirely in the UAE rather than in Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) previously launched the APL in early 2018, but the five-team competition was scrapped after just a single season. Despite attracting high-profile T20 globe-trotters like Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, and Shahid Afridi, the league was abruptly discontinued following severe payment disputes and emerging concerns regarding the tournament’s integrity.