Azmatullah Omarzai

Profile details

FULL NAME

Azmatullah Omarzai

PLAYING ROLE

All-rounder

TEAMS

Akcel United Kabul

Azmatullah Omarzai — All-rounder

Azmatullah Omarzai captains Akcel United Kabul into APL 2026-27 — a fast bowler who bats in the middle order, the franchise’s Afghan Icon, and the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2024. He leads a brand-new club into a brand-new season.

Omarzai was 18 when he made his Twenty20 debut in the first APL season, named in the Paktia Panthers squad in 2018. Eight years later he returns to the league as a captain, not a prospect — and as one of the most complete cricketers Afghanistan has produced. He bowls right-arm fast-medium, bats in the middle order, and fields like a man who expects to be involved in every ball.

The 2024 season made his reputation. He scored 417 ODI runs in the calendar year and was named the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year, the first Afghan to take the award. His highest ODI score is an unbeaten 149, and his best ODI bowling is 5 for 58 — numbers that show both halves of his game in the same sentence. He made his ODI debut against Ireland on 21 January 2021, his T20I debut against Bangladesh on 3 March 2022, and his Test debut against Zimbabwe on 26 December 2024.

Then came October 2026, and a T20I hundred — 116 — that underlined how far his batting has travelled since that teenage APL debut. For Kabul, that matters as much as the new ball. Omarzai is the player who lets Shane McDermott balance the side: a fifth bowler who is also a genuine middle-order batter, so the team can carry an extra spinner or an extra seamer without weakening the batting.

APL 2026-27 in numbers

The season has not started yet, so Azmatullah Omarzai has no APL 2026-27 numbers at all. The first ball is on Sunday 27 December 2026 at 5:30 PM Afghanistan time (5:00 PM Dubai time) in the UAE, and this page will carry his season figures from Match 1 onwards. Until then, the table below is honest: played 0, and everything else to be announced.

What he brings into the season, in verified figures:

Season figures are to be announced — the season starts on 27 December 2026. Career figures are from the verified player record.

Where he fits at Akcel United Kabul

Azmatullah Omarzai plays for Akcel United Kabul in APL 2026-27, captained by Azmatullah Omarzai and coached by Shane McDermott, with Nikhil Chopra as mentor. The squad of nineteen was set at the draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026 — 90 players picked from 462 across 18 rounds.

As captain, Omarzai is the first name on Kabul’s teamsheet and the hinge of the whole XI. He takes the new ball or holds an end, bats in the middle order, and sets the standard for a squad of nineteen who have never played together. The season starts on Sunday 27 December 2026 at 5:30 PM Afghanistan time in the UAE, and APL will follow every Kabul match through the final on Wednesday 20 January 2027. His fixtures are on the APL Schedule, the standings on the APL Points Table, and the rest of the squad on the APL Players page.

Five teams chase four playoff places in a double round-robin, so every team plays eight league matches — each opponent twice — and one side goes home after the league stage. The final is on Wednesday 20 January 2027. Kabul are a new club with no APL record yet, and that is the point: everything this squad does in 2026-27 will be a first.