Big names scooped up by Afghanistan Premier League ahead of inaugural campaign

The draft for the tournament, which is scheduled to take place between October 5 and October 28 in the UAE, took place at the Hilton Hotel in Habtoor this week

^{Brendon McCullum has signed up for the 2018 APL}

Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Rashid Khan are among the big names to be drafted for this year's Afghanistan Premier League.

The draft for the inaugural tournament, which is scheduled to take place between October 5 and October 28 in the UAE, took place at the Hilton Hotel in Habtoor this week.

The five competing sides - Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Paktia and Balkh - are allowed to select a minimum of 17 and maximum of 20 players for the event, with total wage bills permitted to range from $550,000 to $700,000.

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More than 400 players from 25 countries were available in the draft, including 98 from Afghanistan.

McCullum was selected by Kandahar, Russell is to play for Nangahar, Khan joins Kabul and Gayle is set to turn out for Balkh.

A number of British players were also up for draft, with Sam Billings and Tymal Mills being snapped up by Kandahar.

Chris Jordan and Luke Wright, meanwhile, are heading for stints with Paktia, and Ravi Bopara was picked by Balkh and Laurie Evans by Kabul.