Afghan Icon · Captain
Azmatullah Omarzai
All-rounder · Afghanistan
Omarzai (Icon) leads. Drafted Johnson Charles, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Imran Tahir. Coach Shane McDermott.
Akcel United Kabul is the Kabul city franchise in the revived Afghanistan Premier League. The side was one of the first three identities unveiled in August 2026, alongside Balkh Zwanan and Kandahar Warriors. Draft paperwork has also called the same club Akcel Kabul United. This site uses Akcel United Kabul, and treats the word-order difference as a naming inconsistency, not a second team.
Azmatullah Omarzai is captain and the franchise's Afghan Icon. Shane McDermott is head coach. Nikhil Chopra is mentor. At the 3 November 2026 draft in Dubai, Kabul took West Indies keeper-batter Johnson Charles in Platinum, then Fazalhaq Farooqi and Dushmantha Chameera in Diamond, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman with the first Gold pick. D'Arcy Short, Shamim Hossain, Imran Tahir, Hazratullah Zazai and Curtis Campher complete a 19-man squad that leans on left-arm pace and wrist spin.
Afghan Icon · Captain
All-rounder · Afghanistan
Platinum
Wicket-keeper batter · West Indies
Diamond
Bowler · Afghanistan
Diamond
Bowler · Sri Lanka
19 players, ACB draft release, 3 November 2026. Players are grouped by draft category, in draft order.
All-rounder
Wicket-keeper batter · West Indies
Bowler
Bowler · Sri Lanka
Right-arm off-break bowler
Right-hand opening batter
Slow left-arm orthodox bowling all-rounder
Left-handed opening batter · Australia
Left-handed middle-order batter · Bangladesh
South Africa
Batter
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Right-arm fast bowler
Afghanistan
All-rounder · Ireland
Johnson Charles (West Indies), Dushmantha Chameera (Sri Lanka), D’Arcy Short (Australia), Shamim Hossain (Bangladesh), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Curtis Campher (Ireland).
Played 0, won 0. Akcel United Kabul is a new franchise and starts the 2026 season with no APL record. The 2018 side from Kabul was a different club; its results stay with that club.
Kabul's 2018 side was Kabul Zwanan, captained by Rashid Khan, and it finished runner-up to Balkh Legends. That club is not this club. City names overlap. Ownership, badge and squad do not carry over. Akcel United Kabul starts 2026 with a blank APL record.
Earlier reporting named an AKCEL Group buyer for the Kabul rights. ESPNcricinfo wrote on 2 November 2026 that franchise owners had still not been formally announced by the board. Owner names stay in the to-be-confirmed box until an ACB or APL release settles them.
Ninety players, 18 rounds, six categories. Kandahar Warriors opened with Muhammad Amir; Nangarhar Cosmic opened Silver and Emerging.
Rashid has Amir and Nabi. Zadran has Moeen. Gurbaz has Hasaranga and Noor. A team-by-team read of the official lists.
Five city teams, a December start in the UAE, and one finished season back in 2018. The rest is still being written.
19 players, led by Azmatullah Omarzai. Headline picks: Johnson Charles (West Indies), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Dushmantha Chameera (Sri Lanka). Source: ACB draft release, 3 November 2026.
No. The city is shared. The franchise, the badge and the results are not. Titles stay with the club that won them.
In the UAE at ICC-approved venues. Specific grounds had not been announced as of 4 November 2026.
Last updated 3 November 2026, 14:20 GST