Sediqullah Atal joins Balkh Zwanan as a Gold pick of the 2026 draft, signed at
the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026 for a reported US$40,000. He is
a 25-year-old left-hand opening batter with three ODI hundreds already to his
name, a maiden Test hundred in Abu Dhabi, and a Player of the Tournament award
from the Emerging Teams Asia Cup. Balkh are captained by Ibrahim Zadran — the
man Atal shared a record 231-run stand with against Ireland — and coached by
Mickey Arthur, with Tillakaratne Dilshan as mentor, and the opener gives them
exactly what a new side needs at the top of the order: a left-hander who
scores hundreds, not just starts.
He is new to this league. Atal was 17 when the first APL season was played in
October 2018, and his T20 debut did not come until September 2020, so the 2026
season is his APL debut — he was never on any of the five 2018 squads. That
makes him the opposite of his Balkh teammate Gulbadin Naib, who won the
inaugural title with Balkh Legends. The 2026 clubs are new sides and inherit
nothing from the 2018 clubs, so Atal starts with a clean slate. The 2026
season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE, with the fixture list still to
be published.
What Balkh are buying is form and temperament at the top. Atal's last twelve
months have been the best of his career: a maiden Test hundred that batted out
a draw against Bangladesh, three ODI hundreds including a birthday world record
against Ireland, and a Player of the Match award in the UAE tri-series. He has
played franchise cricket in the IPL, SA20, ILT20 and LPL, and he arrives in
the APL as an opener in the form of his life.
APL career stats
Atal has no APL past — 2026 is his debut season, so the tables below carry
only the 2026 row until the first ball is bowled on 27 December 2026. He was
17 when the first season was played in October 2018 and his T20 debut did
not come until September 2020, so he was never on any of the five 2018
squads.
One Day International · 12 August 2026 · Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast
On his 25th birthday, Sediqullah Atal played the innings of his life.
Opening the batting in the fourth ODI against Ireland, he made 143 off
120 balls — 17 fours and four sixes, his hundred off 98 balls — in a
record 231-run second-wicket stand with Ibrahim Zadran (107). Afghanistan
made 343 for 9, their highest ODI total, and beat Ireland by 42 runs to
take a 3-0 lead in the series. Atal was named Player of the Match, and
the innings set a world record: the highest individual ODI score on a
birthday, beating Tom Latham's 140 against the Netherlands in 2022.
Why it mattered: a career-best score, a world record and
a series-winning stand — all on his 25th birthday, in the same innings.
111 vs Bangladesh
Test match · 9–13 October 2026 · Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
In only his third Test, Atal batted Afghanistan to safety against
Bangladesh: 111 off 332 balls, his maiden Test hundred and his maiden
first-class hundred, in the fourth innings of the match. He batted for
514 minutes — more than eight and a half hours — reached his hundred off
277 balls, survived a missed stumping on 70, and fell in the 119th over
to Taijul Islam. Qais Ahmad (49 not out) saw out the draw at 346 for 8.
Atal became the first Afghanistan batter to score a Test century in the
fourth innings, and it was the first time Afghanistan had not lost a Test
against a World Test Championship side since September 2019.
Why it mattered: eight and a half hours of Test batting
to save a match — the innings that announced him as a proper Test opener.
104 vs Zimbabwe
One Day International · 19 December 2024 · Harare Sports Club
Atal's maiden ODI hundred came in the second ODI of the series in Harare:
104 off 128 balls, with eight fours and four sixes, in a 191-run opening
stand with Abdul Malik (84). He reached the hundred with a six off
Richard Ngarava, and Afghanistan's 286 for 6 proved far too many — Zimbabwe
were bowled out for 54, and Afghanistan won by 232 runs, their biggest
ODI win by runs. It was the innings that turned a promising opener into
a proven one-day hundred-maker.
Why it mattered: his first ODI hundred, in a record win —
the day he went from prospect to proven international opener.
85 vs Australia
ICC Champions Trophy · 28 February 2025 · Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Batting at No. 3 after Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell in the first over, Atal
made 85 off 95 balls against Australia in the Champions Trophy — six
fours and three sixes, his second ODI fifty, in a total of 273. Rain
washed the match out with Australia 109 for 1 in 12.5 overs, so the
innings did not decide the game, but it showed what he could do against
the best attack in the world on the biggest stage of all.
Why it mattered: 85 against Australia in a global
tournament — the innings that proved his game travelled to the top level.
73 not out vs Hong Kong
Asia Cup · 9 September 2025 · Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Atal's best T20I innings came in the Asia Cup opener against Hong Kong:
73 not out off 52 balls, with six fours and three sixes, reaching his
fifty off 41 balls. He added 82 for the fifth wicket with Azmatullah
Omarzai (53 off 21) as Afghanistan made 188 for 6, then watched Hong Kong
fold for 94 for 9 — a 94-run win. It remains his highest T20I score, and
his third T20I fifty.
Why it mattered: his T20I career best, in a tournament
opener — the one short-format innings that matches his one-day record.
Playing style and strengths
Atal is a left-hand opening batter built for the long innings in white-ball
cricket. He stands tall and upright, plays straight, and is strong through
the off side — he drives on the up, cuts hard, and scores freely square of
the wicket on both sides. His hundreds are built on patience rather than
power: the 143 against Ireland came off 120 balls, the Test 111 off 332,
and he is happy to leave balls and accumulate while the bowlers tire.
But the power is there when he wants it — 17 fours and four sixes in the
143, and seven sixes in a single over in the Kabul Premier League in 2023.
He is at his best when he has time to build an innings, and the longer he
bats, the bigger he tends to score.
What sets him apart is temperament. At the Emerging Teams Asia Cup in 2024
he made a fifty in every match he played; in the Test against Bangladesh he
batted for more than eight and a half hours to save the game; on his 25th
birthday, with a series on the line, he made his career-best score. He
opens, so he faces the new ball every time, and he has shown he can do it
in all three formats — a Test hundred in the fourth innings, three ODI
hundreds, and a T20I best of 73 not out. For Balkh, he is the anchor at
the top: an opener who can bat through the innings and let Ibrahim Zadran
and the middle order play around him. His one clear gap is T20I
consistency — 35 matches at 20.79, with no score above 73 not out — and
the APL is where he can close it.
Records and milestones
T20I debut (cap 50) on 27 March 2023 vs Pakistan at Sharjah; ODI debut (cap 63) on 6 November 2024 vs Bangladesh at Sharjah (21 off 30); Test debut (cap 33) on 26 December 2024 vs Zimbabwe at Bulawayo (3 off 6).
Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024 Player of the Tournament — 368 runs in 5 innings at 122.66, a fifty in every match; the highest tally in a single edition of the tournament.
Maiden ODI hundred: 104 off 128 vs Zimbabwe, Harare, 19 December 2024 — 191-run opening stand with Abdul Malik; Afghanistan won by 232 runs, their biggest ODI win by runs.
85 off 95 vs Australia, Champions Trophy, Lahore, 28 February 2025 — his second ODI fifty, batting at No. 3 after the first-over loss of Gurbaz.
73 not out off 52 vs Hong Kong, Asia Cup, Abu Dhabi, 9 September 2025 — T20I career best, his third T20I fifty.
143 off 120 vs Ireland, Belfast, 12 August 2026 — on his 25th birthday; the highest individual ODI score on a birthday, a world record; 231-run stand with Ibrahim Zadran, Afghanistan's highest second-wicket ODI partnership; Afghanistan's highest ODI total, 343 for 9.
111 off 332 vs Bangladesh, Abu Dhabi, October 2026 — maiden Test hundred and maiden first-class hundred; the first Afghanistan batter to score a Test century in the fourth innings; batted 514 minutes.
Third ODI hundred: 102 off 110 vs Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi, 19 October 2026 — Player of the Match; climbed from 32nd to 20th in the ICC ODI batting rankings.
IPL debut on 24 May 2025 for Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings at Jaipur — 22 off 16; one IPL match in total.
SA20 2025: MI Cape Town, 3 matches, 82 runs, best 74 off 46 vs Pretoria Capitals; ILT20 2025-26: Dubai Capitals, 7 matches, 148 runs, best 66 off 44 vs Sharjah Warriorz.
Career totals as of November 2026: Test 3 matches, 190 runs; ODI 21 matches, 844 runs, 3 hundreds; T20I 35 matches, 686 runs; T20 domestic 108 matches, 3,118 runs.
Career outside APL
Sediqullah Atal was born in Logar province on 12 August 2001, and came
through Afghanistan's age-group system — he was in the squad for the
Under-19 World Cup in South Africa in 2020, scoring 59 runs in two games.
His T20 debut came on 7 September 2020 for Kabul Eagles in the Shpageeza
Cricket League, and his List A debut on 17 October 2021 for Band-e-Amir
Region. In July 2021 he was named in Afghanistan's ODI squad for a series
against Pakistan that was later postponed, and he spent the next two years
building a domestic record before the international call came.
The breakthrough arrived in three steps. He made his T20I debut against
Pakistan at Sharjah on 27 March 2023, in the third and final match of the
series. Then came the Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Oman in October 2024:
368 runs in five innings, a fifty in every match, Player of the Tournament,
and a title for Afghanistan A, who beat Sri Lanka A by seven wickets in the
final with Atal unbeaten on 55. A month later he made his ODI debut against
Bangladesh at Sharjah on 6 November 2024, scoring 21 off 30, and on Boxing
Day the same year he made his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo,
falling for 3 off 6 in Afghanistan's 699. He was a reserve for the 2024
T20 World Cup squad and played the Champions Trophy in 2025.
The hundred rush that followed made him one of the most talked-about young
openers in world cricket. His maiden ODI hundred, 104 against Zimbabwe at
Harare in December 2024, was followed by 85 against Australia at the
Champions Trophy and 73 not out against Hong Kong at the Asia Cup. Then
came 2026: 143 against Ireland on his 25th birthday — a world record for
the highest ODI score on a birthday, in a record 231-run stand with
Ibrahim Zadran — a maiden Test hundred of 111 against Bangladesh in Abu
Dhabi, batting 514 minutes to save the match, and a third ODI hundred,
102 against Zimbabwe in the UAE tri-series, which lifted him from 32nd to
20th in the ICC ODI batting rankings. As of November 2026 his
international totals stand at 3 Tests (190 runs), 21 ODIs (844 runs, three
hundreds) and 35 T20Is (686 runs). He opened the 2026 T20 World Cup
against New Zealand at Chennai on 8 February 2026, making 29 off 24.
Franchise cricket has taken him to four leagues in two years. In the IPL
he joined Delhi Capitals in 2025 as a replacement for Harry Brook, at a
base price of INR 1.25 crore, debuting against Punjab Kings at Jaipur on
24 May 2025 with 22 off 16 — his only IPL match. In the SA20 he played
for MI Cape Town in 2025 as a replacement for Ben Stokes, making 82 runs
in three matches with a best of 74 off 46 against Pretoria Capitals. In
the ILT20 he signed for Dubai Capitals for the 2025-26 season as a
replacement for Shai Hope, and made his maiden ILT20 fifty — 66 off 44
against Sharjah Warriorz on 20 December 2025 — finishing with 148 runs in
seven matches. In the Lanka Premier League he joined Kandy Royals in 2026
as a replacement for Rahmanullah Gurbaz, but the stint was quiet: 1 off 3
against Colombo Kaps and 0 off 2 against Galle Gallants. He was confirmed
for Noakhali Express in the Bangladesh Premier League in December 2025,
which would be his first BPL appearance. At home he has turned out for
Kabul Eagles, Band-e-Amir Region, Bost Defenders and Mis Ainak Knights.
At 25, Atal is the youngest of Balkh's Gold picks and the one with the
steepest upward curve. He arrives in the APL as an opener who has scored
hundreds in Tests and ODIs in the last twelve months, with a new captain
in Ibrahim Zadran — his record-breaking partner against Ireland — a coach
in Mickey Arthur who has built teams around young openers, and a Gold
pick's expectations on his shoulders. The league is new to him; the
hundreds are not.
Which team does Sediqullah Atal play for in APL 2026?
Sediqullah Atal plays for Balkh Zwanan in APL T20 2026. He was picked in the Gold category at the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, for a reported US$40,000. 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 Sediqullah Atal play in the first APL season in 2018?
No. Atal was 17 when the first APL season was played in October 2018, and his T20 debut did not come until September 2020, so he was never on any of the five 2018 squads. The 2026 season is his APL debut, and he joins Balkh Zwanan as a Gold pick with no APL record behind him yet.
What is Sediqullah Atal's highest ODI score?
143 off 120 balls against Ireland at Belfast on 12 August 2026, on his 25th birthday. He hit 17 fours and four sixes, shared a record 231-run stand with Ibrahim Zadran, and took Afghanistan to 343 for 9, their highest ODI total. It is also a world record - the highest individual ODI score on a birthday.
Has Sediqullah Atal scored a Test hundred?
Yes. He made 111 off 332 balls against Bangladesh at Abu Dhabi in October 2026, his maiden Test hundred and his maiden first-class hundred. He batted for 514 minutes and became the first Afghanistan batter to score a Test century in the fourth innings, saving the match - Afghanistan finished 346 for 8 in a draw.
Which other leagues has Sediqullah Atal played in?
He has played in the IPL for Delhi Capitals in 2025, the SA20 for MI Cape Town in 2025, the ILT20 for Dubai Capitals in 2025-26 and the Lanka Premier League for Kandy Royals in 2026. He was also confirmed for Noakhali Express in the Bangladesh Premier League, which would be his first BPL appearance.
