Afghanistan domestic cricket on the rise as WAK Grade II teams qualify for Grade I tournament

There has been a steady rise in the Afghanistan's cricketing circle, especially in the homegrown domestic events. One such domestic tournament — the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Provincial Grade II came to a conclusion on December 12, wherein the top eight teams out of the forty participating sides qualified for the Provincial Grade I tournament.

The month-long event had taken off on November 13 across seven venues from Nangarhar, Kunar, Khost, and Kandahar and ended on Friday, as the top eight sides dominated to secure themselves a place in the top-tier nationwide event to follow. Among the teams that qualified include Nangarhar, Nangarhar B, Khost, and Khost B. Additionally, Kabul A, Logar, Paktika, and Kandahar A also made it through.

It is important to mention that the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Provincial Grade II Tournament is an yearly event organized by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and staged across Afghanistan with an aim to better the opportunities for the top teams as well as players at a level higher. The ACB provides special attention to this tournament through its Domestic Cricket Department.

After the recent success of the tournament, another provincial T20 format has been added to its plans of expanding the scope of domestic cricket. However, the primary objective of this newly-included event will be to handpick players to excel in the white-ball formats, as both List A and 20-over cricket will be in focus.

A little while back, the ACB also made it official that they will be launching the first-ever season of the Afghanistan Premier League T20 — a franchise-based tournament, wherein both homegrown and overseas players will be able to participate. The official launch of the league will be held a few days later in the U.A.E., however, it is unclear as to where the tournament will be played. As a result, the domestic and franchise tournament are certainly going to complement each other.