The Mirwais Nika 3-Day Tournament is the domestic first-class cricket competition in Afghanistan and is organised by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). It became an official title in 2019.[1][2][3] The tournament is contested between teams from the six Region of Afghanistan, each representing a number of Afghan provinces.[4][5][6][7][8]
| Countries |  Afghanistan |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Afghanistan Cricket Board |
| Format | Non-first-class three-day (formerly First-class (3-day) in 2018-19) |
| First edition | 2019 |
| Latest edition | 2024 |
| Next edition | 2025 |
| Tournament format | Double round-robin, then final |
| Number of teams | 5 |
| Current champion | Boost Region |
| Most successful | Mis Ainak Region Band-E-Amir(1 titles) |
| Website | Afghanistan Cricket |
 2023 Mirwais Nika 3-day Regional | |
History
editThe inaugural season of Mirwais Nika provincial three-day tournament starts from 15 February in Nangarhar’s Ghazi Amanullah Khan International Cricket Stadium and Kunar’s Cricket Ground. The teams that are set to participate in this tournament will represent their respective zones in the competition. They qualified based on their performance in the recently concluded two-day tournament. These teams are Kunduz from Amo zone, Kandahar from Bost zone, Kunar from Speenghar zone, Khost from Mis-e-Ainak zone and Kabul from Band-e-Amir zone. Each team will comprise of three players from their respective zone’s first class teams and top performers from the two-day tournament. The teams will also include one fast bowler each selected from the fast bowling hunt programme under ACB’s game development department. The hunt was organized in three stages as 18 aspiring fast bowlers were shortlisted for further camps. The inaugural season of Mirwais Nika provincial three-day first class tournament starts from 15 February till 12 March 2019 ahead of this year’s Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day First Class Tournament. Following the first season the tournament was changed and the matches were no longer accorded first-class status[9][10] and instead of provincial teams representing their zones, it was the zonal teams themselves that participated directly.
Teams
edit| Teams | Home ground | Years active |
|---|---|---|
| Amo Region | Balkh Cricket Stadium, Mazar-i-Sharif | 2019– |
| Band-e-Amir Region | Ghazni Cricket Ground, Ghazni | 2019– |
| Boost Region | Kandahar International Cricket Stadium, Kandahar | 2019– |
| Mis Ainak Region | Khost Cricket Stadium, Khost | 2019– |
| Speen Ghar Region | Ghazi Amanullah International Cricket Stadium, Jalalabad | 2019– |
Competition format
editThe competition is contested in a double-round-robin format, with each team playing every other team twice, i.e. home and away. Points are awarded based on wins, draws, ties and bonus points for runs and wickets in a team's first 100 batting and bowling overs, with the top two teams playing a final at the end of the season. Regular matches last for three days; the final lasts for four days.
Champions
edit| Year | Winner (number of titles) | Runners-up | Leading run-scorer | Leading wicket-taker | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player (club) | Runs | Player (club) | Wickets | ||||
| 2019 | Kabul Province (1st title) | Kunduz Province | Nisar Wahdat | 653 | Parvez Amin | 24 | |
| 2022 | Band-E-Amir Region | Speen Ghar Region | Mohammad Asif | 594 | Farhad Momand | 20 | |
| 2023 | Mis Ainak Region | Amo Region | [11] | ||||
| 2024 | Boost Region | ||||||
Tournaments
edit2019 season
edit- Champions:Kabul Province
- Runners-up:Kunduz Province
- Official Website:2019 Mirwais Nika Provincial 3-Day at ESPN CricInfo
The 2018–19 Mirwais Nika Provincial 3-Day was the first edition of the Mirwais Nika Provincial 3-Day tournament, a first-class cricket competition in Afghanistan, that ran from 15 February to 15 March 2019.[12][3] The five competing provincial sides were representing their regions after having come through regional qualifying events.In the final, the match finished as a draw, with Kabul Province declared as the winner, after taking a first innings lead.
2022 season
edit- Champions:Band-E-Amir Region
- Runners-up:Speen Ghar Region
- Official Website: 2022 Mirwais Nika Regional 3-Day Trophy
The 2nd edition of the Mirwais Nika Regional Three-Day Tournament is set to begin on June 1, 2022. The event features 5 regional teams which are scheduled to compete in a round-robin format at two venues in Kandahar province. A total of 11 games will be played in the tournament across 25 days from June 1 to 25. Mis Ainak, Band-e-Amir, Amo, Bost and Speen Ghar are the 5 regional participating teams that will play once against each other in the round-robin stage, with the top two advancing to the final. The competitions are considered to be quite important in terms of producing new talents and contributing to the development of the game in the country.[13][14]
The Mirwais Nika Regional three-day event is the 3rd of many domestic events that are included in the domestic cricket plan for the year and will be followed by first-class and List-A events later in the year.
2023 season
edit- Champions: Mis Ainak Region
- Runners-up: Amo Region
- Official Website: Mirwais Nika 3-day Regional 2023 at ESPN cricinfo
The 3rd edition of the Mirwais Neka Regional Three-Day Tournament is set to begin on May 28 in Nangarhar Province. The event features 5 regional teams which are scheduled to compete in a round-robin format at two different venues in Nangarhar province. A total of 11 games will be played in the tournament across 23 days from May 28 to June 17. Mis-e- Ainak, Band-e-Amir, Amo, Bost and Speen Ghar are the 5 regional participating teams that will play once against each other in the round-robin stage, with the top two advancing to the final, which is staged for June 17–19 in Ghazi Amanullah Khan Cricket Stadium, Nangarhar. The competition is considered to be quite important in terms of producing new talents and contributing to the development of the game in the country. The Mirwais Nika Regional three-day event is the 5th of many domestic events that are included in the domestic cricket plan for the year and will be followed by first-class and List-A events later in the year.
References
edit- ^ "Afghanistan domestic competitions awarded first-class and List A status". ESPN Cricinfo. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ^ "In Principle Agreement to Constitutional and Financial Changes to ICC". International Cricket Council. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ a b "Provincial Three-day first class tournament to start in Nangarhar and Kunar". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ "Mis-e-Ainak Region Wins the Mirwais Neka Regional Three-Day Tournament 2023". cricket.af. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "Regional Three-Day Event Begins on June 1st". cricket.af. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ "Regional Three Day Event Begins on May 28 The 3rd edition of the Mirwais Neka Regional". cricket.af. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ "ACB Announces Domestic Events Schedule for 2023". cricket.af. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ "Mirwais Neka Regional Three-Day Tournament Begins This Friday". cricket.af. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ "Mirwais Nika Regional 3-Day Tournament 2022". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ "Mirwais Nika Regional 3-Day Tournament 2023". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ "Mis-e-Ainak Region Wins the Mirwais Neka Regional Three-Day Tournament 2023". cricket.af. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "Mirwais Nika Provincial 3-Day: Fixtures". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ "Regional Three-Day Event Begins on June 1st". cricket.af. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "2022 Mirwais Nika Regional 3-Day Trophy". ESPNCricInfo. Retrieved 4 November 2022.