APL 2026 All Teams Squad: Complete Players List, Captains and Coaches

The Afghanistan Premier League (APL) 2026 is taking shape. The five teams have their captains, head coaches and mentors confirmed, and the players’ draft was held in Dubai on November 3, 2026, to build the squads for the season starting December 27, 2026, in the UAE. Full 19-player squads are being confirmed after the draft — below are all five APL teams with their captains, coaches, mentors and the draft picks confirmed so far. This page will be updated with the complete players list as soon as the official squads are released.

APL 2026 All Teams at a Glance

Team	Captain	Head Coach	Mentor
Akcel United Kabul	Azmatullah Omarzai	Shane McDermott	Nikhil Chopra
Kandahar Warriors	Rashid Khan	Ravi Bopara	Irfan Pathan
Nangarhar Cosmic	Rahmanullah Gurbaz	Toby Radford	Mark Boucher
Team Balkh	Ibrahim Zadran	Mickey Arthur	Tillakaratne Dilshan
Team Paktia	Rahmat Shah	Azhar Mahmood	Waqar Younis

Akcel United Kabul Squad 2026: Captain, Coach and Players

Captain: Azmatullah Omarzai | Head Coach: Shane McDermott | Mentor: Nikhil Chopra

Azmatullah Omarzai, Afghanistan’s star all-rounder, leads the Kabul franchise, with former Australia fielding coach Shane McDermott as head coach. The first draft pick confirmed for Kabul is Bangladesh all-rounder Shamim Hossain Patwari, selected from the Gold category. The full Kabul squad will be updated here once officially released.

Kandahar Warriors Squad 2026: Captain, Coach and Players

Captain: Rashid Khan | Head Coach: Ravi Bopara | Mentor: Irfan Pathan

The biggest name in Afghan cricket leads Kandahar. Rashid Khan captains the Warriors, with former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara as head coach and Irfan Pathan as mentor. Kandahar also won the draft’s first overall pick, having topped both the Platinum and Diamond games at the pre-draft APL Huddle. The full Kandahar squad will be updated here once officially released.

Nangarhar Cosmic Squad 2026: Captain, Coach and Players

Captain: Rahmanullah Gurbaz | Head Coach: Toby Radford | Mentor: Mark Boucher

Wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz leads Nangarhar Cosmic, with Toby Radford as head coach and former South Africa captain Mark Boucher as mentor. Nangarhar made the draft’s first big international signing, picking Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan from the Diamond category. Nangarhar also earned the first pick in the Silver and Emerging rounds at the APL Huddle. The full Nangarhar squad will be updated here once officially released.

Team Balkh Squad 2026: Captain, Coach and Players

Captain: Ibrahim Zadran | Head Coach: Mickey Arthur | Mentor: Tillakaratne Dilshan

Opener Ibrahim Zadran captains Team Balkh, with the vastly experienced Mickey Arthur — former head coach of South Africa, Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — as head coach and Sri Lanka legend Tillakaratne Dilshan as mentor. Balkh held the second overall pick of the draft. The full Balkh squad will be updated here once officially released.

Team Paktia Squad 2026: Captain, Coach and Players

Captain: Rahmat Shah | Head Coach: Azhar Mahmood | Mentor: Waqar Younis

Test captain Rahmat Shah leads Team Paktia, with Azhar Mahmood as head coach and Pakistan fast-bowling legend Waqar Younis as mentor. Paktia’s first confirmed draft pick is Bangladesh fast bowler Nahid Rana. Paktia also held the second pick in the Gold and Emerging rounds. The full Paktia squad will be updated here once officially released.

APL 2026 Draft and Squad Rules

Around 1,500 Afghan and international players registered for the draft, and the pool was pruned to 462 players across five categories: Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver and Emerging. The draft ran over 18 rounds with 90 picks in total. Each franchise builds a core squad of 17 players through the main draft, with two more available in a supplementary round, taking the active squad size to 19. Every squad must contain a minimum of 12 Afghan or local players and can include a maximum of seven overseas players. The franchise salary cap for player remuneration is set at US$725,000.

Big international names in the draft pool included Wanindu Hasaranga, Reeza Hendricks, Romario Shepherd, Rovman Powell, Imran Tahir, Akeal Hosein, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Kusal Perera, Imam-ul-Haq, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Charith Asalanka, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan and Sahibzada Farhan, along with Moeen Ali, Alex Hales, Rassie van der Dussen, Sikandar Raza, Dawid Malan and Reece Topley. Note that these were draft-pool names, not confirmed squad members — only the picks reported above are confirmed so far.

For the full tournament background, read our Afghanistan Premier League 2026 schedule, teams and venue guide, and for Afghanistan’s current form, our AFG vs ZIM 3rd T20I result, where Afghanistan completed a 3-0 whitewash.

APL 2026 All Teams Squad FAQs

When will the full APL 2026 squads be announced?

The players’ draft was held on November 3, 2026, in Dubai. Full 19-player squads are being confirmed after the draft, and this page will be updated with the complete players list as soon as the official squads are released.

How many players are in each APL squad?

19 active players: a core draft squad of 17 plus up to two supplementary picks, with a minimum of 12 Afghan or local players and a maximum of seven overseas players.

Who are the five APL 2026 captains?

Rashid Khan (Kandahar Warriors), Azmatullah Omarzai (Akcel United Kabul), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Nangarhar Cosmic), Ibrahim Zadran (Team Balkh) and Rahmat Shah (Team Paktia).

When does APL 2026 start?

December 27, 2026, in the United Arab Emirates.