The 17th edition of the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Provincial Grade I Tournament will begin on Jan. 5, the Afghanistan Cricket Board said on Wednesday.
The one-day domestic competition, the second event of the new season, will feature 12 provincial teams divided into two groups and will be staged at venues in Khost and Nangarhar provinces. A total of 33 matches will be played over 22 days, with the final scheduled for Jan. 26.
Teams will play each other once within their groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals.
Eight sides qualified by topping their groups in the Provincial Grade II Tournament held in November and December: Kabul A, Khost, Khost B (Mis-e-Ainak region), Nangarhar, Nangarhar B (Speenghar region), Logar, Paktika and Kandahar A (Bost region). Four additional teams – ACB XI, ACB XI-2, Chairman XI and Chairman XI-2 – have been included to give standout performers from Grade II an opportunity to compete at the top domestic level.
Group A, comprising Nangarhar, Logar, Kabul A, Khost B, Chairman XI and Domestic 2, will play at the Najibullah Taraki Cricket Ground in Nangarhar. Group B, including Khost, Paktika, Kandahar A, Nangarhar B, ACB XI and Domestic 1, will compete at the Rahmat Wali Masroor Cricket Ground in Khost.
Nazeem Jaar Abdulrahimzai, the ACB’s domestic cricket manager, said the tournament would feature a larger number of List A and first-class players than previous editions, helping to strengthen the development pathway for younger cricketers.
The Grade I event is part of a broader domestic calendar that will include further white-ball and red-ball competitions later in the season, the board said.
