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The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced its decision to host the Afghanistan Premier League in 2025, following the conclusion of the IPL. This announcement coincides with Afghanistan’s historic achievement in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies, where the Rashid Khan-led team reached the semi-finals for the first time ever.
Afghanistan had never advanced to the knockout stages of any ICC event before this milestone, making it a momentous occasion celebrated by Afghan fans and cricket enthusiasts worldwide. Their success underscores the growth of cricket in smaller nations.
The unexpected progression of Afghanistan, a country affected by conflict, to the semi-finals highlights their remarkable performance, surpassing traditional cricketing powerhouses like New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan, and Australia who are now out of the tournament.
In the upcoming semi-finals, Afghanistan will face South Africa, while the other match will feature India against England.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board has officially announced its intention to reintroduce the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) in 2025.
According to reliable sources, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has planned the revival of the country’s franchise league, the APL. Originally, the tournament was slated for this year, but due to a congested 2024 calendar and Afghanistan’s domestic and international scheduling commitments, the ACB has deferred it to after the 2025 IPL season.
Naseeb Khan, CEO of the Board, informed Cricbuzz that the re-launch of their premier franchise league is under consideration and is scheduled to take place in 2025, following the re-branding and re-launch of the IPL.
“We are determined to re-launch the APL and working on it to make that happen. We are hoping to start the tournament next year as this year we don’t have much time because of our international commitments and domestic schedule and so we are hoping to re-launch the APL at some time after the next IPL.” – Naseeb Khan said via Cricbuzz.
Naseeb Khan disclosed that the Afghanistan Cricket Board has received numerous bids from companies interested in investing in the APL and acquiring franchises. The Board has shortlisted several of these companies, and discussions among top officials are set to commence to determine the next steps forward.
“We had a bidding process and a lot of companies showed interest and now we have shortlisted some companies from the long list and now we will put them on board and after getting approval we will start our next course of action.” – Khan concluded.
The inaugural season of the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) was held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2018, and Balkh Legends emerged as the champions of that first edition.
