Shamim Hossain — Batter
Shamim Hossain joins Akcel United Kabul as a Gold pick of the 2026 draft — a 26-year-old left-handed middle-order batter from Bangladesh with 52 T20I caps behind him.
Shamim’s job is the hardest one in T20 batting: come in with wickets down or overs running out, and score quickly from ball one. He has done it for Bangladesh 52 times in T20Is, scoring 621 runs with a best of 51 against Ireland in 2023, and his T20 best is an unbeaten 81 in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2025–26 — the innings of a finisher, not a grafter.
Born in Chandpur on 2 September 2000, he bats left-handed and bowls right-arm off break, which gives his captain a part-time option if a left-hander needs tying down. He is 26, in the middle of his international career, and Kabul is his first APL season: the league gets a batter who has played World Cups and franchise cricket, and Shamim gets a stage where his finishing can decide a five-team race.
Kabul took him in the Gold category at the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, for a reported US$40,000. He will bat in the middle order, behind Charles, Short and Zazai — the place where Kabul’s innings will either accelerate or stall, and where a left-hander who hits the ball cleanly is worth more than his average suggests.
APL 2026-27 in numbers
The season has not started yet, so Shamim Hossain 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.
| Matches | Runs | Wickets | |
|---|---|---|---|
| APL 2026-27 | 0 | — | — |
What he brings into the season, in verified figures:
| Career mark | Figure |
|---|---|
| T20I matches | 52 (621 runs for Bangladesh) |
| T20I best | 51 vs Ireland, 2023 |
| T20 best | 81* in the BPL, 2025–26 |
| Draft category | Gold — reported US$40,000 |
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
Shamim Hossain 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.
Shamim bats in the middle order, so his overs will decide whether Kabul’s big starts become big totals. The top three can set it up; someone has to finish it, and a left-hander with 52 T20Is and a BPL best of 81 not out is built for exactly that. The season starts on Sunday 27 December 2026 in the UAE; APL will follow every Kabul match, with fixtures on the APL Schedule and the standings on the APL Points Table. The full squad is 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.
Frequently asked questions
What is Shamim Hossain’s role at Akcel United Kabul?
Batter. The left-handed Bangladeshi middle-order batter was a Gold pick at the 3 November 2026 draft.
How many T20Is has Shamim Hossain played?
Fifty-two for Bangladesh, scoring 621 runs with a best of 51 against Ireland in 2023. His T20 best is 81 not out in the BPL in 2025–26.
Has Shamim Hossain played in the APL before?
No. APL 2026-27 is his debut season in the league.