Akcel United Kabul vs Kandahar Warriors: APL 2026 head to head

APL head-to-head record

There is no APL record between these clubs yet. Both start the 2026 season with a blank page: played 0, won 0. Results, the win–loss count and the scorecards will be added here once they play in APL T20 2026. The 2018 clubs from the same cities were different franchises, so their results are not carried over — and neither club inherits anything from 2018.

The 2018 meetings: same cities, different clubs

The cities met twice in 2018, and Kabul’s side won both times. On 11 October, at Sharjah, Kabul Zwanan made 173 for 6 and held Kandahar Knights to 171 for 7 — a two-run win. Five days later the Knights posted 152 for 5 and Kabul chased it down with four wickets in hand, reaching 153 for 6 in 19.1 overs. The Knights finished the league in fifth place with four points and were already out before the knockouts; Kabul went on to the final, where Balkh Legends beat them by four wickets.

None of it counts here. Kandahar Knights and Kabul Zwanan were different clubs, and their results stay with them. What survives is a pair of threads: Rashid Khan captained Kabul Zwanan in 2018 and now captains Kandahar Warriors, and Mohammad Nabi captained the 2018 champions, Balkh Legends, and now plays for Kandahar. Asghar Afghan, who played for the Knights in 2018, is in none of the five 2026 squads. The cities have history. The clubs start at 0–0.

Where the squads differ

Both squads were built at the same draft, on 3 November in Dubai, and both hold 19 players. Kandahar held the strongest hand at the top of the order: the first pick in the Platinum round and the first pick in the Diamond round. That gave them Muhammad Amir, the first pick of the whole draft, and Mohammad Nabi, with England’s Joe Clarke alongside him in Diamond — all under a captain in Rashid Khan who is the first bowler to 200 T20 international wickets.

Akcel’s shape is different. The squad leans on left-arm pace and wrist spin: Fazalhaq Farooqi, who took 17 wickets at the 2024 T20 World Cup, leads the attack, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, taken with the first Gold pick, gives Omarzai a second spin option. Six of Akcel’s 19 are overseas players, against five of Kandahar’s, including West Indies keeper-batter Johnson Charles, the Platinum pick, and South Africa’s Imran Tahir in Silver.

Key battles to watch

The captains set the tone. Azmatullah Omarzai, the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2024, is a fast-medium all-rounder who made his T20 debut in the APL in 2018, with Paktia Panthers. Rashid Khan is the captain on the other side — a leg-spinner who was player of the series in that same 2018 season, when he led Kabul Zwanan. The first meeting of the two captains is a contest in itself: Omarzai’s power against Rashid’s variations.

The bowling match-up is just as sharp. Amir, the left-arm fast bowler who won Pakistan the 2017 Champions Trophy final, against an Akcel top order that includes Johnson Charles and Hazratullah Zazai — and Zazai’s own history makes it personal: he scored 322 runs for Kabul Zwanan in 2018, the side Rashid captained, and now faces his old captain in Akcel colours. And Nabi, who took 9 wickets and made 177 runs in the 2018 season, against Farooqi’s left-arm pace is the other one to circle.

Coaches and mentors

The dugouts are as recognisable as the squads. Kandahar have Ravi Bopara as head coach and Irfan Pathan as mentor; Akcel have Shane McDermott as head coach and Nikhil Chopra as mentor. Both leadership groups were confirmed at the leaders’ draft on 2 November, and both were still in place after the players’ draft the next day. The mentor list for the season also includes Mark Boucher, Waqar Younis and Tillakaratne Dilshan elsewhere — every dugout has a name the crowd will know.

When do they play each other?

The first meeting has no date yet. The fixture list had not been published, and neither side’s dates, opponents or grounds are known. What is known: the season opens on 27 December 2026 in the UAE, with the first ball at 5:30 PM Afghanistan time (5:00 PM Dubai time), and the league has advertised 24 matches — twenty league games, then a knockout. This page will carry the date, the ground and the result as soon as the ACB publishes them. Until then, the schedule and the points table are the places to watch.

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