Hashmatullah Shahidi — the anchor in a squad full of hitters

Temperament, bought in the Gold round

Hashmatullah Shahidi was born in Logar on 4 November 1994. He bats left-handed, bowls right-arm off-break, and he is a top-order batter who has built his reputation on long, unhurried innings in Test cricket.

Paktia took him as the fifth and last Gold pick of the draft on 3 November 2026, for a reported $40,000, after Ijaz Ahmadzai, Farmanullah Safi, Colin Munro and David Wiese. He joins a side captained by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, coached by Azhar Mahmood and mentored by Waqar Younis, and the season starts on 27 December 2026.

It will be his second APL campaign: he played the first season in 2018, for Nangarhar Leopards. What Paktia are buying is temperament — in a T20 squad full of hitters, he is the anchor, the batter who can bat through the middle overs, hold one end while the stroke-makers play around him, and still find the boundary when the asking rate climbs.

The first Afghan Test double hundred

Shahidi is the first Afghan to make a Test double hundred, and he holds the highest Test score by an Afghan batter, 246. He captained Afghanistan in Tests and ODIs for five years, leading the side at the 2023 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy, before stepping down in July 2026. Paktia’s captain is Gurbaz, so Shahidi arrives as a senior voice rather than the leader — the kind of presence a dressing room leans on in a tight chase or a difficult week.

His 2018 season showed he can adapt the method to the format. Playing for Nangarhar Leopards, he was in the XI for all nine of the side’s matches — eight in the league stage and the semi-final — and finished with 202 runs at an average of 40.40 and a strike rate of 103.06, with a highest score of 49 not out, dismissed only five times in nine innings. Nangarhar finished fourth in the five-team league and lost the semi-final to Balkh Legends.

His best innings came against the team he now plays for. Against Paktia Panthers on 7 October, Nangarhar were in trouble when Shahidi walked in, and he stayed there: an unbeaten 49 off 36 balls, in a 112-run stand with captain Ben Cutting, who made 71. The stand was the fourth-highest sixth-wicket partnership in T20 history at the time, and the first century stand for the sixth wicket or lower in a T20 played in the UAE. Cutting, named Player of the Match, gave the credit to his partner: “Full credit to Hash. We needed a partnership and he kept going and that was pretty exceptional.” Paktia still won, by 21 runs.

202 runs in 2018, and a second campaign

Shahidi’s 2018 numbers are verified from that season’s scorecards. His 2026-27 numbers do not exist yet, because the season has not started.

2018: 202 runs at 40.40, strike rate 103.06, best 49 not out. Nangarhar finished fourth and lost the semi-final to Balkh Legends.

The senior voice, and the rebuild

Every T20 side needs a batter who can rebuild an innings rather than just survive one, and Shahidi has spent a career doing it. His 2018 season was a run of useful, unbeaten contributions in winning causes and fighting ones in defeats — 26 not out against Kandahar, 31 not out against Balkh, the 49 not out against Paktia.

For a new squad of nineteen players who have never played together, his other value is quieter. He has captained his country for five years, and he knows how a dressing room works when a week goes wrong. Gurbaz leads the side; Shahidi is the man the captain can turn to.

A new club, a blank record

Twenty league matches, three playoffs and a final: that is the shape of APL 2026-27. Five teams play each other twice, eight matches apiece, and four of them reach the playoffs, so one side is out after the league stage. A win is worth two points. The table is still blank — the season has not started, and the first update comes after Match 1 on 27 December 2026, first ball 5:30 PM Afghanistan time (5:00 PM Dubai time) in the UAE, with the final on Wednesday 20 January 2027.

Paktia are a new club for 2026-27, not a continuation of the 2018 Paktia Panthers — Shahidi’s 2018 runs were scored against Paktia, for Nangarhar Leopards. The Afghanistan Premier League 2026 season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE.