AFG *159/6 (48 ov)
ZIM 339/10 (114.5 ov)AFGHANISTAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2026-27 — DRAFT RESULTS & PLAYER PRICES
- Draft held 3 Nov 2026, UAE
- 5 franchises
- 19 players per squad
Read this first. The APL 2026-27 signed players through a draft with fixed category fees, not an open-bidding auction, though many fans search for it as the “APL auction.” Only the Platinum category fee is officially confirmed: US$100,000 per player. Fees for the Diamond, Gold, Silver and Emerging categories were not published, so they are marked “Not disclosed” here rather than estimated.
The Afghanistan Premier League 2026-27 player draft was held on 3 November 2026 in the United Arab Emirates, where the five franchises, Akcel United Kabul, Team Balkh, Kandahar Warriors, Nangarhar Cosmic and Team Paktia, built their 19-member squads ahead of the season starting 27 December 2026.
The APL used a draft format rather than an IPL-style auction. Players were placed into fixed fee categories, and a franchise that selected a player paid that category’s set fee, so there were no live bids or individual sale prices. This page sets out how the draft worked, the confirmed Platinum prices, and the full results for all five squads.
Auction or Draft? How APL 2026-27 Signed Its Players
Although it is widely searched as the “APL auction,” the APL 2026-27 was a player draft. Each franchise picked in turn from a pool of registered players sorted into categories, and paid the fixed fee attached to each category. Every team retained an Afghan Icon as captain and secured one Platinum-tier overseas star, then filled the rest of the squad across the lower categories, up to a maximum of seven overseas players per side.
APL 2026-27 Draft: Category Fee Structure
Players were drafted into the categories below. Only the Platinum fee has been officially confirmed; the others are listed with the fee marked as not disclosed, which is how it stood at the time of writing.
| Category | Fee (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Platinum | $100,000 | Marquee overseas stars; one per franchise. Confirmed figure. |
| Diamond | Not disclosed | High-value internationals and top Afghan players. |
| Gold | Not disclosed | Established squad players. |
| Silver | Not disclosed | Squad and rotation players. |
| Emerging | Not disclosed | Young and uncapped players. |
| Afghan Icon | Icon pick | Marquee home captain retained by each franchise. |
Category names follow the APL draft structure. Fees other than Platinum were not published by the ACB; this page does not estimate them.
Most Expensive Players: Platinum Picks ($100,000 each)
The five Platinum-category signings are the most expensive confirmed picks of the APL 2026-27 draft, each at the fixed Platinum fee of $100,000, one per franchise.
| Player | Nationality | Franchise | Fee (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammad Amir | Pakistan | Kandahar Warriors | $100,000 |
| Moeen Ali | England | Team Balkh | $100,000 |
| Alex Hales | England | Nangarhar Cosmic | $100,000 |
| Johnson Charles | West Indies | Akcel United Kabul | $100,000 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | Sri Lanka | Team Paktia | $100,000 |
Confirmed Platinum spend across the league: 5 × $100,000 = $500,000. Lower-category fees were not disclosed, so a full per-team spend cannot be totalled.
APL 2026-27 Draft Results: Full Squads by Category
Every franchise’s 19-player squad is listed below with each player’s draft category where it is known. The Category column shows the confirmed draft tier for the marquee picks (Platinum, Diamond, Gold), the Afghan Icon captains and Qais Ahmad’s Supplementary pick; for the remaining players it shows their overseas or Afghan status, as their exact tier was not separately published. The Draft Fee column carries the $100,000 Platinum figure where confirmed, and — elsewhere.
Akcel United Kabul (KAB)
Captain: Azmatullah Omarzai · City: Kabul · Platinum pick: Johnson Charles.
| No. | Player | Draft Category | Draft Fee (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azmatullah Omarzai (C) | Afghan Icon (Captain) | Icon pick |
| 2 | Johnson Charles | Platinum | $100,000 |
| 3 | Fazalhaq Farooqi | Diamond | — |
| 4 | Dushmantha Chameera | Diamond | — |
| 5 | Mujeeb Ur Rahman | Gold | — |
| 6 | Imran Mir | Afghan | — |
| 7 | D’Arcy Short | Overseas | — |
| 8 | Sharafuddin Ashraf | Afghan | — |
| 9 | Shamim Hossain | Overseas | — |
| 10 | Imran Tahir | Overseas | — |
| 11 | Hazratullah Zazai | Afghan | — |
| 12 | Abdul Rahman Rahmani | Afghan | — |
| 13 | Dawood Ahmadzai | Afghan | — |
| 14 | Saleem Safi | Afghan | — |
| 15 | Uzairullah Niazai | Afghan | — |
| 16 | Khalid Ahmadzai | Afghan | — |
| 17 | Keramatullah | Afghan | — |
| 18 | Baheer Shah Mehboob | Afghan | — |
| 19 | Curtis Campher | Overseas | — |
Team Balkh (BAL)
Captain: Ibrahim Zadran · City: Balkh · Platinum pick: Moeen Ali.
| No. | Player | Draft Category | Draft Fee (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ibrahim Zadran (C) | Afghan Icon (Captain) | Icon pick |
| 2 | Moeen Ali | Platinum | $100,000 |
| 3 | Mohammad Ghazanfar | Diamond | — |
| 4 | Luke Wood | Overseas | — |
| 5 | Gulbadin Naib | Gold | — |
| 6 | Sediqullah Atal | Afghan | — |
| 7 | Muhammad Waseem | Overseas | — |
| 8 | Afsar Khan Zazai | Afghan | — |
| 9 | Abdullah Ahmadzai | Afghan | — |
| 10 | Thomas Moores | Overseas | — |
| 11 | Zia ur Rehman Akbar | Afghan | — |
| 12 | Abdullah Tarakhail | Afghan | — |
| 13 | Colin Ackermann | Overseas | — |
| 14 | M. Waqar Salamkheil | Afghan | — |
| 15 | Salaam Khan Ahmadzai | Afghan | — |
| 16 | Azizullah Miakhil | Afghan | — |
| 17 | Abdul Aziz Khan | Afghan | — |
| 18 | Qais Ahmad | Supplementary | — |
| 19 | Christopher Wood | Overseas | — |
Kandahar Warriors (KAN)
Captain: Rashid Khan · City: Kandahar · Platinum pick: Mohammad Amir.
| No. | Player | Draft Category | Draft Fee (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rashid Khan (C) | Afghan Icon (Captain) | Icon pick |
| 2 | Mohammad Amir | Platinum | $100,000 |
| 3 | Mohammad Nabi | Diamond | — |
| 4 | Joe Clarke | Diamond | — |
| 5 | Karim Janat | Afghan | — |
| 6 | Tymal Mills | Overseas | — |
| 7 | Hassan Eisakhil | Afghan | — |
| 8 | Farid Ahmad Malik | Afghan | — |
| 9 | Kusal Perera | Gold | — |
| 10 | Mohammad Shahzad | Afghan | — |
| 11 | Muslim Musa | Afghan | — |
| 12 | Duwaine Pretorius | Overseas | — |
| 13 | George Munsey | Overseas | — |
| 14 | Allah Noor Naseri | Afghan | — |
| 15 | Noman Shah | Afghan | — |
| 16 | Usman Khan | Afghan | — |
| 17 | Naseer Maroof Khil | Afghan | — |
| 18 | Shawkat Zaman | Afghan | — |
| 19 | Ibrahim Masood | Afghan | — |
Nangarhar Cosmic (NAN)
Captain: Rahmat Shah · City: Nangarhar · Platinum pick: Alex Hales.
| No. | Player | Draft Category | Draft Fee (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rahmat Shah (C) | Afghan Icon (Captain) | Icon pick |
| 2 | Alex Hales | Platinum | $100,000 |
| 3 | Darwish Rasooli | Diamond | — |
| 4 | Shakib Al Hasan | Diamond | — |
| 5 | Kamindu Mendis | Gold | — |
| 6 | Ziawrahman Sharifi | Afghan | — |
| 7 | M. Akram Zazai | Afghan | — |
| 8 | Ikram Alikhil | Afghan | — |
| 9 | Junaid Siddique | Overseas | — |
| 10 | Zahir Khan Pakten | Afghan | — |
| 11 | Ismatullah Alam | Afghan | — |
| 12 | M. Yamin Ahmadzai | Afghan | — |
| 13 | Amir Jangoo | Overseas | — |
| 14 | Shafiqullah Ghafari | Afghan | — |
| 15 | Faisal Khan Shinozada | Afghan | — |
| 16 | Bahar Ali Shinwari | Afghan | — |
| 17 | Islam Khan Zazai | Afghan | — |
| 18 | Aftab Alam | Afghan | — |
| 19 | Zubairullah Akbari | Afghan | — |
Team Paktia (PAK)
Captain: Rahmanullah Gurbaz · City: Paktia · Platinum pick: Wanindu Hasaranga.
| No. | Player | Draft Category | Draft Fee (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rahmanullah Gurbaz (C) | Afghan Icon (Captain) | Icon pick |
| 2 | Wanindu Hasaranga | Platinum | $100,000 |
| 3 | Noor Ahmad | Diamond | — |
| 4 | Nahid Rana | Overseas | — |
| 5 | Ijaz Ahmadzai | Afghan | — |
| 6 | Farmanullah Safi | Afghan | — |
| 7 | David Wiese | Overseas | — |
| 8 | Colin Munro | Gold | — |
| 9 | Hashmatullah Shahidi | Gold | — |
| 10 | H Lakanwal | Afghan | — |
| 11 | Nangeyalia Kharoti | Afghan | — |
| 12 | Gerhard Erasmus | Overseas | — |
| 13 | Olly Stone | Overseas | — |
| 14 | Masood Gurbaz | Afghan | — |
| 15 | Abid Mohammadi | Afghan | — |
| 16 | Khalid Taniwal | Afghan | — |
| 17 | Wahidullah Zadran | Afghan | — |
| 18 | Sediqullah Pacha | Afghan | — |
| 19 | Khalil Gurbaz | Afghan | — |
APL 2026-27 Auction FAQs
Was the APL 2026-27 an auction or a draft?
It was a player draft, held on 3 November 2026 in the UAE. Franchises picked players from fee-based categories rather than bidding against each other, so there were no live auction prices. It is often searched as the “APL auction.”
How much did the most expensive APL 2026-27 players cost?
The top category, Platinum, had a fixed fee of $100,000 per player. The five Platinum picks, Mohammad Amir, Moeen Ali, Alex Hales, Johnson Charles and Wanindu Hasaranga, were each signed at that figure, one per franchise.
What were the APL 2026-27 draft categories?
Players were drafted into Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver and Emerging categories, alongside an Afghan Icon captain for each team. Only the Platinum fee ($100,000) was officially confirmed.
Who was the most expensive player in the APL 2026-27 draft?
All five Platinum picks shared the same top fixed fee of $100,000, so there was no single highest bid. Mohammad Amir was reported as the first Platinum pick, going to Kandahar Warriors.
How many players did each team draft?
Each of the five franchises drafted a 19-player squad, including its Afghan Icon captain, one Platinum overseas signing and up to seven overseas players in total.
Were the Diamond, Gold and Silver prices announced?
No. At the time of writing only the Platinum category fee had been made public. The fees for the Diamond, Gold, Silver and Emerging categories were not published by the Afghanistan Cricket Board.
When was the APL 2026-27 draft held?
On 3 November 2026 in the United Arab Emirates, ahead of the season beginning on 27 December 2026.
Which overseas stars were picked in the APL 2026-27 draft?
Platinum picks aside, the draft brought in names such as Shakib Al Hasan, Kamindu Mendis, Dushmantha Chameera, Imran Tahir, Colin Munro, David Wiese, Tymal Mills, George Munsey, Kusal Perera and Curtis Campher.
Last updated 14 November 2026