Former Pakistan cricket team captain Shahid Afridi is set to play for Kathmandu Kings XI in the Everest Premier League (EPL), a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament, set to take place from September 25 to October 9.

Kathmandu Kings XI named the allrounder as their iconic international star for the tournament at a press conference on Monday.

Afridi said that he was excited about visiting Nepal. "It will be my first visit to Kathmandu and I am looking forward to playing in front of loving Nepali people," said the 41-year-old at a live video conference organised by Kathmandu Kings XI on Monday. He also added that he was not much aware of Nepali cricket. "Honestly speaking, I know nothing about Nepali cricket but people love the game."

Afridi, the former captain of Pakistan in all three formats, has played 27 Tests, 398 One-day Internationals and 99 Twenty20 matches. The leg spinner and an aggressive batsman Afridi announced retirement from international cricket in February 2017 before returning to captain the Rest of the World XI squad for a one-off T20I in May 2018.

Afridi, who made his debut for Pakistan in 1996 held the record of fastest ODI century in 37 deliveries for 17 years. He also holds the record for hitting 351 sixes, the most by any player in the ODIs. He has claimed 395 wickets in ODIs, 48 in Tests and 98 in T20Is.

After his retirement from international cricket, he has played numerous franchise cricket tournaments around the world.

The six-team franchise cricket tournament being organised by Zhora Sports Management will take place at the TU cricket grounds. The last edition of the tournament which had attracted some of the leading international cricket stars including West Indies' Chrish Gayle and South African Hashim Amla among others was postponed owing to Covid-19 outbreak.