Afghanistan’s first cricket stadium to be built near Jalalabad

The foundation stone for Afghanistan’s first cricket stadium was laid by Chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board and Afghanistan Finance Minister Dr. Omar Zakhilwal. The stadium will be built in the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Township which is situated 15 kilometers east of Jalalabad city on the Jalalabad – Torkham Highway in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar. The stadium will cost 5 million US dollars which will be paid by the Afghanistan Government and and the reconstruction arm of international society in Afghanistan, the Provincial Reconstruction Team. The stadium will be built on 30 acres donated by the developer of the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Township and the construction will take one year. The Afghan Cricket Board said that 3 million US dollars are in their hand and the rest of the funds would be acquired soon. . The stadium will include an advanced cricket academy and a hostel for cricketers to live in while practicing at the academy. It is notable that Jalalabad is also known as the ‘capital of cricket’ in Afghanistan with cricket crazy fans as its relatively mild weather allows for the playing of cricket around the year, contrary to some parts of Afghanistan where it snows and cricket can be played only during summer and spring only.

NOTE: The inspiration for this article was a great article written by Hilal Momand at the Asian Cricket website when he visited Jalalabad. You can find the link for the original news article here.