• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Shpageeza 2022 Eight Players Including Rashid Khan Rahmanullah Gurbaz And Najibullah Zadran Retained

Shpageeza 2022: Eight players, including Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Najibullah Zadran, retained

The T20 league drafting has started, with Afghanistan's premier T20 tournament, the Shpageeza Cricket League (SCL), conducting its draft on June 10, which saw as many as 142 players from capped and uncapped categories get picked to represent eight teams.


The upcoming 2022 edition will see the inclusion of two new franchises - the Pamir Zalmi and Hindukush Stars - making this competition an eight-sided contest, according to a report in ESPNCricinfo.


A total of eight players were retained ahead of the draft, which saw each side pick one player.


Band-e-Amir Dragons have retained IPL and PSL winner Rashid Khan; Rahmanullah Gurbaz will stay with Kabul Eagles, the defending title holders, while Najibullah Zadran will be seen again with the two-time champs Speenghar Tigers.


Mohammad Shahzad will stay with former winners Mis Ainak Knights; Darwish Rasooli continues to be a part of the Amo Sharks team, while Samiullah Shinwari's association with Bost Defenders will remain this season as well.


Zalmi picked Shapoor Zadran, while the Stars chose Hamid Hassan as their retained player from the pool.


Amongst 142 players, 11 players - Mohammad Nabi (Kabul Eagles), Fazalhaq Farooqi (Bost Defenders), Hashmatullah Shahidi (Pamir Zalmi), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Hindukush Stars), Usman Ghani (Speenghar Tigers), Hazratullah Zazai (Hindukush Stars), Asghar Afghan (Mis Ainak Knights), Karim Janat (Band-e-Amir Dragons), Ihsanullah Janat (Amo Sharks) and Noor Ali Zadran (Pamir Zalmi)- including Shahzad, were retained in the Icon category.


Each franchise had to pick two players from the Diamond, three from the Platinum, four from the Golden, and six from the Silver, apart from the Icon category.


The SCL is likely to begin on July 15 and will continue until August 2, which will be held in Kabul.


In their statement, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said, "it's fine to note that the SCL2022 is expected to be conducted from July 15 to August 2 in Kabul".