Indian Premier League 2026 Begins April 8 with Afghan Players; Buzkashi Team Travels to Kazakhstan
The 19th season of the Indian Premier League is scheduled to start on April 8 and run until May 31, featuring 10 teams. Royal Challengers Bengaluru enter as defending champions after defeating Punjab Kings by six wickets in the 2025 final. The league includes Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants, Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings.
Afghan cricketers Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar and Azmatullah Omarzai will participate. Khan plays for Gujarat Titans, Ahmad for Chennai Super Kings, Ghazanfar for Mumbai Indians and Omarzai for Punjab Kings. Ariana Television holds exclusive live broadcast rights for the tournament in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's national Buzkashi team has traveled to Turkistan, Kazakhstan, for the World Buzkashi Championships, also known as Kokpar, from March 15 to 21. The 15-member delegation, comprising 12 players and three board members, was introduced by the National Buzkashi, Javelin and Traditional Games Federation, according to the General Presidency of Olympics, Physical Education and Sports. The event follows a nine-year hiatus, with teams from nine countries competing: Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkey. Afghanistan last participated in 2017.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board announced the postponement of the national team's series against Sri Lanka, originally set to begin March 13 in the United Arab Emirates, to the fourth quarter of 2026 due to logistical issues from the Middle East conflict.
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