A 40-team cricket tournament in Kunar’s Pech Dara district has ended with Dari Shahr winning the Nangalam Premier League, putting the scale of grassroots cricket in the province into focus.
The competition had been running for some time at Chaman Ground in the district, bringing together 40 teams before Dari Shahr emerged as champions.
Beyond the result, the size of the tournament provides a notable picture of cricket participation at district level. Organising a competition involving 40 teams outside Afghanistan’s main cricket centres points to a substantial local playing base.
The tournament also prompted discussion among local followers about cricket infrastructure. In comments accompanying coverage of the final, one supporter called on the Afghanistan Cricket Board to provide standard grounds for communities capable of attracting significant interest in the sport.
Such comments represent the views of individual supporters rather than an announced plan by the cricket authorities, but they raise a wider question around whether facilities are keeping pace with participation in provincial and district cricket.
For Kunar, the conclusion of the Nangalam Premier League therefore carries a story beyond Dari Shahr’s title: dozens of teams are competing at grassroots level, while the infrastructure available to those players remains part of the local conversation.
