Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament

Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament
Countries Afghanistan
AdministratorAfghanistan Cricket Board
FormatFirst-class cricket (from 2017 onwards)
First edition2011
Latest edition2024–25
Tournament formatDouble round-robin
Number of teams5
Current championPamir Legends (1st title)
Most successfulBand-e-Amir Region (3)
Websitehttp://www.cricket.af/

Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament is a four-day cricket tournament in Afghanistan played between regional teams, each representing a number of Afghan provinces.

Up to and including the 2016–17 Tournament, the matches were not given first-class status. However, at an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in February 2017, first-class status was awarded to all future matches, starting with the 2017–18 tournament.[1][2][3] It is named after founder of the Durrani Empire, Ahmad Shah Durrani.

History

Afghanistan's multi-day tournament, the Ahmad Shah Abdali tournament, initially began as a three-day competition hosted in Peshawar, Pakistan in 2011[4] before being held in Afghanistan for all subsequent seasons. It transitioned to a four-day structure in 2014, with five regional teams competing - Amo, Band-e-Amir, Boost, Mis Ainak and Speen Ghar. A sixth team, Kabul, joined the competition in 2016. The Afghanistan Under-19 cricket team participated in the inaugural 2011 season only.[4] The teams play each other twice before the two sides at the top of the table play for the end of season championship. The competition runs from September through December.[5][6] In February 2017 the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded first-class status to Afghanistan's four-day domestic competition.[7]

Teams

Current teams (2023) Debut year Wins
Hindukush Strikers 2023
Mah-e-Par Stars 2023
Maiwand Champions 2023 2023
Pamir Legends 2023

Former teams

Former teams Home ground Years active
Amo Region Balkh Cricket Stadium, Mazar-i-Sharif 2011–2022
Band-e-Amir Region Ghazni Cricket Ground, Ghazni 2011–2022
Boost Region Kandahar International Cricket Stadium, Kandahar 2011–2022
Mis Ainak Region Khost Cricket Stadium, Khost 2011–2022
Speen Ghar Region Ghazi Amanullah International Cricket Stadium, Jalalabad 2011–2022
Afghanistan Under-19 2011
Kabul Region Alokozay Kabul International Cricket Ground, Kabul 2016–2019

Champions

This table lists all the champions of the Ahmad Shah Abdali Regional Tournament during the competition's pre-first-class era under the 3-Day (2011-2013) and 4-Day formats (2014 onwards).

Season Winner (number of titles) Runners-up
2011[8][9][10] Mis Ainak Region (1)[11] Band-e-Amir Region
2012[12][13] Mis Ainak Region (2)[14] Speen Ghar Region
2013[15][16][17] Boost Region (1)[18] Band-e-Amir Region
2014–15[19] Mis Ainak Region (3)[20] Speen Ghar Region
2015–16[21] Mis Ainak Region (4)[22] Speen Ghar Region
2016[23][24] Speen Ghar Region (1)[25][26] Mis Ainak Region


This table lists all the champions of the Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament during the competition's first-class era.

Season Winner (number of titles) Runners-up Leading run-scorer (club) Runs Leading wicket-taker (club) Wickets
2017–18 Band-e-Amir Region (1)[27] Speen Ghar Region Bahir Shah (Speen Ghar Region) 1096 Zia-ur-Rehman (Mis Ainak Region) Waqar Salamkheil (Band-e-Amir Region) Zahir Shehzad (Speen Ghar Region) 55
2018 Band-e-Amir Region (2)[28] Amo Region Darwish Rasooli (Amo Region) 1073 Amir Hamza (Band-e-Amir Region) 61
2019 Speen Ghar Region (1)[29] Amo Region Najeeb Tarakai (Speen Ghar Region) 828 Zohaib Ahmadzai (Amo Region) 46
2021 Band-e-Amir Region (3)[30] Amo Region Riaz Hassan (Band-e-Amir Region) 636 Zohaib Ahmadzai (Amo Region) 32
2022 Amo Region (1)[31] Band-e-Amir Region Karim Janat (Band-e-Amir Region) 561 Amir Hamza (Band-e-Amir Region) 30
2023 Maiwand Champions (1) Hindukush Strikers
2024 Pamir Legends (1) Maiwand Champions Ismat Alam (Pamir Legends) 723 Yamin Ahmadzai (Maiwand Champions)
Fareed Ahmad (Pamir Legends) 		36

See also

References

  1. ^ "Big-Three rollback begins, BCCI opposes". ESPN Cricinfo. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Afghanistan domestic competitions awarded first-class and List A status". ESPN Cricinfo. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  3. ^ "In Principle Agreement to Constitutional and Financial Changes to ICC". International Cricket Council. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Afghanistan cricket teams play in Pakistan". The Express Tribune. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Afghanistan Cricket Board – About Domestic Cricket". Archived from the original on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  6. ^ "Afghanistan Cricket Board – Ahmad Shah Abdali One Day and T20 Tournaments Report". Archived from the original on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  7. ^ Afghanistan domestic competitions awarded first-class and List A status
  8. ^ "Afghanistan Regional 3-Day Tournament 2011". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  9. ^ Kakar, Javed Hamim (5 May 2011). "Boost, Ainak pull off wins in cricket event". Pajhwok Afghan News. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Ahmad Shah Abdali Three Days Cricket Tournament 2011". CricHQ. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Mis Ainak Region, Mis Ainak Region - Won by 3 wickets". CricHQ. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Afghanistan Regional 3-Day Tournament 2012". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Ahmad Shah Abdali Three Days Cricket Tournament 2012". CricHQ. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Mis Ainak Region, Mis Ainak Region - Won by 247 runs". CricHQ. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  15. ^ "August 19, 2013: Pakistan defeats Afghanistan in cricket; Ahmad Shah Abdali Baba Cricket Tournament underway". Afghanistan Online. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  16. ^ Kakar, Javed Hamim (19 August 2013). "Amu Zone win cricket event opener". Pajhwok Afghan News. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  17. ^ Kakar, Javed Hamim (September 2013). "Mis Ainak beat Spin Ghar in test match". Pajhwok Afghan News. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Boost cricket team become champions of the "Ahmad Shah Abdali" Cup". AVAPress. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Afghanistan Regional 4-Day Tournament 2014/15". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Mis Ainak Region v Speen Ghar Region Afghanistan Regional 4-Day Tournament 2014/15 (Final)". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  21. ^ "Afghanistan Regional 4-Day Tournament 2015/16". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  22. ^ "Mis Ainak Region v Speen Ghar Region Afghanistan Regional 4-Day Tournament 2015/16 (Final)". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  23. ^ "Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament 2016". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament 2016". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Speen Ghar Region v Mis Ainak Region Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament 2016 (Final)". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  26. ^ "Final, Amanullah, November 28 - December 01, 2016, Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  27. ^ "Final, Amanullah, December 19 - 23, 2017, Alokozay Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  28. ^ "THE THIRD SEASON OF AHMAD SHAH ABDALI FIRST CLASS TOURNAMENT TO START FROM 4TH APRIL". Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  29. ^ "Speenghar wins Ahmad Shah Abdali First-Class Championship". cricket.af. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  30. ^ "Band-e-Amir Region Wins Ahmad Shah Abdali First Class Competitions 2021". cricket.af. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  31. ^ "Amo Region Wins the Ahmad Shah Abdali First Class Tournament 2022". Retrieved 10 November 2022.