Afghanistan Premier League Launches in UAE: A New Era for Afghan Cricket
For years, Afghanistan’s cricketers have lit up the world’s biggest T20 stages. IPL, CPL, PSL, BBL, SA20, ILT20 — wherever there has been white-ball fireworks, Afghan talent has found a way to the spotlight.
Now they finally get a league to call their own.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has confirmed that its reimagined Afghanistan Premier League (APL) will launch at the end of the year, with the inaugural ball scheduled for 27 December. The first edition will be staged in the United Arab Emirates at ICC-approved venues, a neutral, stable base for a project the board clearly views as long-term.
Crucially, the ACB has kept the door open. Future editions may shift outside the UAE, with the league explicitly reserving the right to explore alternative venues as the tournament grows and conditions evolve.
Owners on Board, Identities Locked In
The league will start lean but ambitious: five franchises in the opening season. Three already have owners and identities, and they come with serious business backing.
Amit Kaushal, founder and chairman of AKCEL Group, has taken charge of the Kabul franchise, branded Akcel United Kabul. From Kandahar, the Bullfrog group — represented by Pankaj Chadha and Ashish Mehta, who already operate the Pokhara Avengers in the Nepal Premier League — step into the Afghan market with Kandahar Warriors.
The third confirmed team carries a particularly symbolic touch. Afghan-American entrepreneur Shakaib Rahimi, a long-time supporter of Afghan cricket, has secured the Balakh franchise, Balakh Zwanan. It’s a nod to the diaspora that has backed Afghanistan’s rise from the fringes of the sport to the top tier of international competition.
Talks are ongoing for the remaining two teams, with the ACB engaging billionaire business magnates from the United States and several Indian corporates. The message is clear: this is not a token domestic tournament, but a commercial and cricketing property designed to attract heavyweight investment from day one.
A Long-Term Play, Not a Quick Fix
To give the league structure and scale, the ACB has handed operational and promotional rights to Cricket Ventures LLC-FZ, a UAE-based company working in joint venture with the MENA subsidiary of ITW Universe.
Bhairav Shanth, Co-Founder of ITW Universe, framed the mandate in blunt, ambitious terms: build a professionally run, internationally visible T20 league that develops Afghan talent and offers investors a decade-long runway. Not a pop-up event. A property.
The recent unveiling in Dubai — the first three franchises, their branding, and the Koh-E-Zafar trophy — marked the moment the idea turned into something tangible. The trophy, with its mountain motif, has been positioned as a symbol of Afghanistan’s climb through extraordinary circumstances to cricket relevance. It is not subtle, but it is apt.
Now comes the hard part.
The Clock Starts Now
The roadmap is tight and unforgiving. Player registration opens on 30 August. The inaugural draft follows on 27 September. Three months later, on 27 December, the league is due to bowl its first delivery.
Between those dates, the organisers must finalize the remaining franchises, secure commercial partners, lock in broadcast arrangements, and build a fan experience that can stand beside other Afghanistan-linked properties already on the global calendar.
The stakes are high. For leagues like this to work, owners must see real, appreciating assets. Players must see a clear pathway — from domestic promise to global franchise stardom. Brands must see a clean, high-attention platform worth tying themselves to for years, not weeks.
That is the standard the APL has publicly set for itself.
Afghanistan’s cricketers have long proved they belong on the world’s biggest T20 stages. The question now is whether their own league can rise to match the heights they’ve already scaled.
