Assam Cricket Association announces players' pool for inaugural Assam Premier League auction
Guwahati, July 11
The Assam Cricket Association has announced the players' pool for the inaugural edition of the Assam Premier League.
A total of 275 players have been shortlisted from among the registered players who expressed interest in participating in the league. The pool comprises 20 marquee players and over 250 players in the general category, all of whom will go under the hammer at the APL Player Auction as the franchises bid to assemble their squads for the first season, according to a release.
The marquee list is drawn from Assam's senior domestic ranks. Denish Das, Sibsankar Roy, Sumit Kashyap, Swarupam Purkayastha and Jitumoni Kalita lead the batting and all-round options, while Mrinmoy Dutta, Muktar Hussain, Avinav Choudhary, Rahul Singh, Sadak Hussain and Bhargab Pratim Lakhar headline the bowling group.
Saahil Jain, Pradyun Saikia and Saurav Mousum Dihingia add depth to the batting pool, Abdul Ajij Kuraishi, Akash Sengupta and Ayushman Malakar bring all-round strength, and Sumit Ghadigaonkar, Rohit Sen and Ruhinandan Pegu are the wicketkeeping choices. All 20 have played BCCI tournaments for Assam and are expected to attract the strongest bidding on auction day.
The APL Player Auction will be held on 19th July, 2026, at the ACA Stadium, Guwahati, where the participating franchises will select players to form their respective squads for the inaugural season.
The league will give Assam's cricketers a stage to perform in front of selectors and will feed directly into the identification and selection of players for the forthcoming BCCI domestic season.
— ANI
Reader Comments
275 players is a good number for the first edition! But I hope the franchises are genuinely scouting for talent and not just picking big names. The wicketkeeping choices like Ruhinandan Pegu sound promising, hope he gets a chance.
Good step by ACA, but I hope they manage the auction transparently. Many state leagues have faced corruption allegations in the past. Also, 20 marquee players seems too many for a new league - should have kept it to 10-12 to maintain the "star" value. Still, excited to see local boys get this platform!
Interesting to see the North East getting more cricket infrastructure. The BCCI should support more such leagues - it's how we discovered players like Shreyas Iyer in the Mumbai league. Good luck to all the players!
As someone from Assam, this is a dream come true! So many young cricketers from our state never got proper exposure. The APL could be a game-changer for players like Sumit Kashyap who have worked hard in Ranji but never got IPL chances. Fingers crossed for July 19 🤞
250 general category players going under the hammer - that's a huge list! Hope the franchises have done their homework on domestic performances rather than just going by reputation. The bowling group with Mrinmoy Dutta and Muktar Hussain looks quite solid.
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