The Ghazi Amanullah Khan International Cricket Stadium is the first international standard cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 stadium in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. It is located in the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Township, about 15 kilometres outside the city of Jalalabad

Jalalabad

Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...

 in Nangarhar Province

Nangarhar Province

Nangarhar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan in the east of the country. Its capital is the city of Jalalabad. The population of the province is 1,334,000, which consists mainly of ethnic Pashtuns with a sizable community of Arabs and Pashais....

.

Construction on the stadium began in March 2010 when the foundation stone was laid by Minister of Finance and president of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, Omar Zakhilwal

Omar Zakhilwal

Dr. Omar Zakhilwal , is an economist and a prominent politician in Afghanistan. He is the current Finance Minister as well as the Chief Economic Advisor to the President of Afghanistan. He is also the president of the Afghanistan Cricket Board.-Early life:...

. The project, which was developed on 30 acres of land donated by the developer constructing the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Township, cost up the first phase of construction $1.8 million. The first phase, which took one year to complete, included the completion of the stadium itself. The remainder of the phases will see the construction of a pavilion

Cricket pavilion

A cricket pavilion is a pavilion at a cricket ground. It is the main building within which the players usually change in dressing rooms and which is the main location for watching the cricket match for members and others...

, accommodation for players and administrative buildings. The stadium, which has a capacity of 14,000, was completed before the national team and under-19 team left for Canada

Afghan cricket team in Canada in 2011

The Afghanistan toured Canada from 2-9 August 2011. The tour consisted of one ICC Intercontinental Cup match and a pair of One Day Internationals for the 2011–13 ICC Intercontinental Cup One-Day. Afghanistan won the Intercontinental Cup and both of the following ODIs.-Intercontinental Cup:-1st...

 and the Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Ireland

2011 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier

The 2011 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an event organised by the International Cricket Council held in Ireland in July, 2011. Ten participants competed competed for the six remaining places in the 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.-Teams:...

 respectively. The two sides inaugurated the stadium in a Twenty20

Twenty20

Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...

 match. It is hoped that the stadium will be able to attract international teams to play Afghanistan, who currently have One Day International status until at least 2013.