Shaida Mohammad Abdali, Afghanistan ambassador’s to India, has said the Indian Premier League (IPL) is a big opportunity to boost the game of cricket in the country.

“Cricket is cementing people to people ties. IPL is a big opportunity to boost Afghanistan cricket. Hope team owners pick players,” Abdali told India Today.

It’ll be the first time when Afghanistan players will also go under the hammer during the IPL auction, which will be held on February 20 in Bengaluru. A total of five players from Afghanistan namely Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Mohammad Shahzad and Najeeb Zadran are in the auction list.

Out of them, Mohammed Shahzad seems to be the red hot favorite on which franchises would like to spend a big amount as he has been the best player of his team in past few years. The 29-year-old batsman strengthened his case by scoring 350 runs in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), where he finished as the fifth highest run-scorer.

It should be fair to say Shahzad is the one who can also end as the highest gainer in the auction. The aggressive batsman won the ICC Associate/Affiliate player of the year, becoming the first ever player from his country to win the award.

There are a total of 76 spots to be filled in the auction out of 799 players who have registered for the league.