Abdullah Ahmadzai is a 23-year-old right-arm fast bowler who has taken 20 wickets in 14 T20Is for Afghanistan in barely a year, and he joins Balkh Zwanan for APL T20 2026 as a Gold (Wildcard) pick from the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, for a reported US$40,000.
Abdullah Ahmadzai joins Balkh Zwanan as the last of the club's five Gold picks of the
2026 draft — a wildcard selection, taken from the Silver category in the final Gold
round, at the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026 for a reported US$40,000. He is
23, a right-arm fast bowler from Nangarhar, and he arrives with 20 T20I wickets in 14
matches for Afghanistan behind him, all of them taken in the fourteen months since his
debut. Balkh are captained by Ibrahim Zadran and coached by Mickey Arthur, with
Tillakaratne Dilshan as mentor, and Ahmadzai gives them a wicket-taking quick who has
already done the job for his country.
He is new to this league. Ahmadzai did not play in the first APL season in October
2018 — he was 15 at the time, and his first senior match did not come until November
2023, so his name appears in none of the five 2018 squads. The 2026 clubs are new
sides that inherit nothing from the 2018 clubs, so there is no old record to carry
over. His APL story starts from scratch in December 2026, and so does Balkh Zwanan's.
What Balkh are buying is a bowler who has taken a wicket in 12 of his 14 T20Is, who
was in Afghanistan's squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup, and who was bought by Desert
Vipers for US$40,000 at the ILT20 auction a month before the APL draft. The 2026
season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE, with the fixture list still to be
published.
APL career stats
Ahmadzai has no APL past — he was 15 when the first season was played in 2018, and
2026 is his debut season. The tables below will fill in once the first ball is bowled
on 27 December 2026.
T20 International · 2 November 2025 · Harare Sports Club, Harare
Afghanistan had already sealed the series, but the third T20I was the one that went
down to the wire. Defending 211, with Zimbabwe chasing hard after Sikandar Raza's
51, Ahmadzai took the final wickets as the hosts were bowled out for 201. His 3 for
42 were his best T20I figures, and they capped a series in which he took seven
wickets in three matches — the joint-highest tally of the series — as Afghanistan
completed a 3-0 sweep.
Why it mattered: his best T20I figures, in the match that
completed a 3-0 series sweep — and seven wickets in three matches made him the
series' joint-highest wicket-taker.
4/7 vs Boost Defenders
Shpageeza Cricket League · 29 July 2025 · Kabul
The best figures of his career so far, and a match that was over quickly. Playing
for Amo Sharks, Ahmadzai took 4 for 7 as Boost Defenders were bowled out for 51 in
11 overs, with Yamin Ahmadzai taking 3 for 10 at the other end. Amo won by 77 runs,
and Ahmadzai's four wickets — one of four four-wicket hauls in his T20 career —
were the reason the game never got going as a contest.
Why it mattered: 4 for 7 — still his best T20 figures, and the
spell that bowled a side out for 51.
1/31 on T20I debut vs UAE
T20 International · 5 September 2025 · Sharjah Cricket Stadium
He had been called up as a replacement for the injured Naveen-ul-Haq, and the debut
could hardly have been tougher: a tri-series opener against the hosts at Sharjah.
Ahmadzai struck with the wicket of Muhammad Waseem for 44, and finished with 1 for
31 as Afghanistan held on to win by four runs. He was 22, cap number 60, and he had
a wicket on his first day in international cricket.
Why it mattered: a wicket on debut, against the hosts, in a
four-run win — the first of 20 T20I wickets in fourteen months.
2/26 and 6* vs Qatar
T20 International · 11 November 2025 · West End Park International Cricket Stadium, Doha
A one-off match, and Ahmadzai's most complete day in an Afghanistan shirt. He took
2 for 26 in four overs, held two catches, and then, with the bat, hit the only ball
he faced for six — six not out off one ball, his highest T20I score. Darwish
Rasooli's 50 was the top score as Afghanistan made 149 for 8 and beat Qatar by 25
runs.
Why it mattered: two wickets, two catches and a six off the only
ball he faced — his most complete performance in an Afghanistan shirt.
4/23 vs Speen Ghar
Afghanistan National T20 Cup · 3 May 2026 · Kunduz Cricket Stadium, Kunduz
The spell that made him the tournament's joint-leading wicket-taker. Playing for
Band-e-Amir Region, Ahmadzai took 4 for 23 as Speen Ghar made 146 for 8, was named
Player of the Match, and Band-e-Amir won by four wickets with eight balls to spare.
He finished the tournament with 14 wickets — level with Roohullah Arab and
Izharulhaq Naveed — and arrived at the APL draft two months later as one of the
form bowlers of the domestic season.
Why it mattered: a Player of the Match spell, four wickets for 23,
and the joint-most wickets in the whole tournament.
Playing style and strengths
Ahmadzai is a right-arm medium-fast bowler who attacks the stumps and bowls a full
length, with the pace to hurry batters and the control to hold a line over four overs.
His 20 T20I wickets have come at 18.75, at an economy of 8.40 — the numbers of a
bowler who goes looking for wickets rather than waiting for mistakes. He takes a
wicket in most games he plays — 12 of his 14 T20Is — and he has four four-wicket
hauls in 37 T20 matches, the best of them 4 for 7.
With the bat he is a lower-order hitter rather than a batter: 13 runs in 14 T20Is,
with a highest score of six not out — a six off the only ball he faced against Qatar.
In the field he is safe, with two catches in that Qatar match among his early T20I
hauls. At 23 he arrives with a World Cup squad place behind him, a 3-0 series sweep
over Zimbabwe at home in November 2026, and a domestic season in which he finished
as the joint-leading wicket-taker of the National T20 Cup.
Records and milestones
T20I debut (cap 60) on 5 September 2025 vs UAE at Sharjah — 1/31, dismissing Muhammad Waseem for 44; called up as Naveen-ul-Haq's injury replacement; Afghanistan won by four runs.
Best T20I figures: 3/42 vs Zimbabwe at Harare, 2 November 2025 — seven wickets in the three-match series, the joint-highest tally, as Afghanistan swept the series 3-0.
Best T20 figures: 4/7 vs Boost Defenders at Kabul, 29 July 2025 — Shpageeza 2025, Amo Sharks won by 77 runs.
Joint-most wickets at the 2026 National T20 Cup: 14 for Band-e-Amir Region, with Roohullah Arab and Izharulhaq Naveed; best 4/23 vs Speen Ghar, 3 May 2026 (Player of the Match).
T20 World Cup 2026: named in Afghanistan's squad on 31 December 2025; played one match — vs Canada at Chennai, 19 February 2026 (0/22, Afghanistan won by 82 runs).
Shpageeza 2026 champion with Amo Sharks — a third straight title; nine wickets in the tournament, best 4/38; 2/41 in the final vs Speen Ghar Tigers, 15 July 2026.
List A debut: 3 November 2023 for Speenghar Tigers vs Mis-Ainak, Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament.
T20 debut: 18 August 2024 for Band-e-Amir Dragons, Shpageeza Cricket League.
First-class debut: 22 September 2024 for Pamir Legends vs Hindukush Strikers, Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament — Pamir won the title.
Asia Cup 2025: reserve, then added to the squad after Naveen-ul-Haq was ruled out with a shoulder injury; did not play a match. Also named in Afghanistan A's squad for the Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha.
Gold (Wildcard) pick for Balkh Zwanan in 2026 — Balkh used its wildcard in the final Gold round to take him from the Silver category — for a reported US$40,000. A month earlier, Desert Vipers had bought him for US$40,000 at the ILT20 Season 5 auction in Dubai.
Career outside APL
Abdullah Ahmadzai was born in Nangarhar on 26 June 2003, and his route to the national
side was short and steep. There was no Under-19 World Cup on his record — his first
senior match was a List A game for Speenghar Tigers against Mis-Ainak in November
2023, when he was 20, and his T20 and first-class debuts followed within a year: a
T20 debut for Band-e-Amir Dragons in the Shpageeza League in August 2024, and a
first-class debut for Pamir Legends against Hindukush Strikers a month later, in a
tournament Pamir went on to win. He was 21, and he had barely played a season of
senior cricket when the Shpageeza League gave him his first headline.
The Shpageeza League is where he made his name at home. In July 2025, playing for Amo
Sharks, he took 4 for 7 against Boost Defenders as they were bowled out for 51 — still
his best T20 figures. A year later he was back with Amo, took nine wickets with a best
of 4 for 38, and took 2 for 41 in the final as Amo beat Speen Ghar Tigers by seven
wickets for a third straight title. Between the two Shpageeza seasons he had his best
domestic tournament: the National T20 Cup in Kunduz in May 2026, where his 14 wickets
for Band-e-Amir Region were the joint-most in the competition, with a best of 4 for 23
against Speen Ghar and a Player of the Match award.
International cricket came even faster. Called up as a replacement for the injured
Naveen-ul-Haq, he debuted in a T20I against the UAE at Sharjah on 5 September 2025
and took a wicket on his first day. Within two months he had played a series in
Bangladesh, taken seven wickets in a 3-0 sweep in Zimbabwe — the joint-highest tally
of the series — and produced his most complete performance, two wickets, two catches
and a six off the only ball he faced, against Qatar in Doha. He was a reserve at the
Asia Cup in September 2025, added to the squad when Naveen was ruled out, though he
did not play; and he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup on
the last day of 2025, playing one match, against Canada at Chennai.
The year after the World Cup kept him in the side. He took 2 for 30 against the West
Indies in Dubai in January 2026, played two matches at the Asian Games in Japan in
September — 2 for 13 against the hosts and 1 for 15 against Nepal — and took 1 for 38
against India at Delhi. Then came the home series against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in late
October 2026, a 3-0 sweep in which he took 2 for 34 in the second match and 1 for 18
in the third. As of November 2026 his T20I figures stand at 14 matches and 20 wickets
at 18.75, with a best of 3 for 42; in T20 cricket overall he has 51 wickets in 37
matches at 20.96, with a best of 4 for 7. His first-class figures, from September
2026, are seven wickets in three matches at 45.00, and in List A cricket he has eight
wickets in seven matches at 33.62, with 93 runs at 18.60 and a best of 43.
Beyond Afghanistan he has one franchise deal, and it is a recent one. Desert Vipers
bought him for US$40,000 at the ILT20 Season 5 auction in Dubai on 1 October 2026, a
month before the APL draft, and the season starts on 21 November 2026 — so he has
signed, but not yet played, in the league. He has not played in the IPL, the BBL, the
PSL or The Hundred. His cricket so far has been built at home, in Afghanistan's
domestic competitions and for the national side, and the APL is his next stage: a
23-year-old quick with 20 international wickets, a World Cup on his record, and a
domestic season that ended with him sharing the wicket-taking honours in the National
T20 Cup.
Which team does Abdullah Ahmadzai play for in APL 2026?
Abdullah Ahmadzai plays for Balkh Zwanan in APL T20 2026. He was picked in the
Gold (Wildcard) category at the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, for a
reported US$40,000 — Balkh used its wildcard in the Gold round to take him from
the Silver category. Balkh are captained by Ibrahim Zadran, coached by Mickey
Arthur and mentored by Tillakaratne Dilshan, and the season starts on 27 December
2026 in the UAE.
Did Abdullah Ahmadzai play in the first APL season in 2018?
No. Abdullah Ahmadzai did not play in the first APL season in October 2018 — he
was 15 at the time, and his first senior match did not come until November 2023,
so his name appears in none of the five 2018 squads. The 2026 season is his APL
debut, with Balkh Zwanan, and the 2026 clubs are new sides that inherit nothing
from the 2018 clubs.
How many T20I wickets has Abdullah Ahmadzai taken?
Twenty in 14 matches, at an average of 18.75 and an economy of 8.40, as of
November 2026. His best figures are 3 for 42 against Zimbabwe at Harare on 2
November 2025, in the match Afghanistan won by nine runs to complete a 3-0 series
sweep. Seven wickets in that series made him its joint-highest wicket-taker, and
he made his debut against the UAE at Sharjah on 5 September 2025, taking 1 for 31.
Which other leagues has Abdullah Ahmadzai played in?
He has signed for the ILT20, where Desert Vipers bought him for US$40,000 at the
auction in Dubai on 1 October 2026 — but the fifth season does not start until 21
November 2026, so he has not played a match in the league yet. He has not played
in the IPL, BBL, PSL or The Hundred. His cricket so far has been built at home, in
Afghanistan's domestic competitions and for the national side.
What is Abdullah Ahmadzai's best bowling performance?
4 for 7 against Boost Defenders in the Shpageeza Cricket League on 29 July 2025,
playing for Amo Sharks — still his best figures in T20 cricket. Boost were bowled
out for 51 in 11 overs and Amo won by 77 runs. His best figures for Afghanistan
are 3 for 42 against Zimbabwe at Harare on 2 November 2025.
