{"id":50702,"date":"2026-01-07T06:34:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southasianwire.com\/wire\/?p=50702"},"modified":"2026-01-07T06:34:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:34:05","slug":"afghanistan-premier-league-set-to-launch-in-october-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southasianwire.com\/wire\/afghanistan-premier-league-set-to-launch-in-october-2026","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan Premier League set to launch in October 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced a new T20 league, the Afghanistan Premier League.<\/p>\n<p>In a press release, the ACB stated that the inaugural season of the Afghanistan Premier League will feature franchises from five cities. The teams will include prominent national players, international stars, and emerging local talent.<\/p>\n<p>ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf said during the league\u2019s launch event in Dubai that the Afghanistan Premier League represents a significant step in the country\u2019s cricketing journey. He added that it will create new opportunities for players, inspire the younger generation, and showcase Afghan cricket on the global stage.<\/p>\n<p>The first season of the tournament is planned to begin in October 2026 in the United Arab Emirates, while the player draft or auction is expected to take place in June or July 2026.<\/p>\n<p>It is worth noting that the Afghanistan Cricket Board had previously launched a tournament under the same name in early 2018. However, only one season of that league was played.<\/p>\n<p>That edition featured globally renowned players such as Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, and Shahid Afridi, but the league was discontinued due to issues with fee payments and concerns over transparency.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Afghanistan also hosts its domestic T20 league, the Shpageeza Cricket League, every year between July and August, featuring five domestic teams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced a new T20 league, the Afghanistan Premier League. In a press release, the ACB stated that the inaugural season of the Afghanistan Premier League will feature franchises from five cities. The teams will include prominent national players, international stars, and emerging local talent. ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf said &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-50702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south-asia","category-sports-games","tag-headline"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Afghanistan Premier League set to launch in October 2026 - South Asian Wire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southasianwire.com\/wire\/afghanistan-premier-league-set-to-launch-in-october-2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Afghanistan Premier League set to launch in October 2026 - South Asian Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced a new T20 league, the Afghanistan Premier League. In a press release, the ACB stated that the inaugural season of the Afghanistan Premier League will feature franchises from five cities. The teams will include prominent national players, international stars, and emerging local talent. ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf said &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southasianwire.com\/wire\/afghanistan-premier-league-set-to-launch-in-october-2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Asian Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T06:34:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southasianwire.com\/wire\/media\/2026\/01\/Afghanistan-Prmier-League.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nasir Abbas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nasir Abbas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southasianwire.com\\\/wire\\\/afghanistan-premier-league-set-to-launch-in-october-2026#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southasianwire.com\\\/wire\\\/afghanistan-premier-league-set-to-launch-in-october-2026\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nasir Abbas\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southasianwire.com\\\/wire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba116d972271f07f3c7b6d49d7d9335d\"},\"headline\":\"Afghanistan Premier League set to launch in October 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T06:34:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southasianwire.com\\\/wire\\\/afghanistan-premier-league-set-to-launch-in-october-2026\"},\"wordCount\":221,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southasianwire.com\\\/wire\\\/afghanistan-premier-league-set-to-launch-in-october-2026#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southasianwire.com\\\/wire\\\/media\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Afghanistan-Prmier-League.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Headline\"],\"articleSection\":[\"South Asia\",\"Sports &amp; 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