The Jai Trophy national cricket tournament was once the lifeblood of Nepali cricket. It started in 2037, while Nepal started playing international cricket only in 2052. Even before participating in international cricket, Nepal had a foundation of domestic cricket. 

This trophy was organized in the name of Jayakumar Nath Shah, the then president of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). At that time, cricket other than 50 overs could not be imagined, but it started with a two-day tournament. The Jai Trophy was organized until 2057 and since then it has been replaced by various tournaments. 

It has been more than 8 years since Shah, who led CAN for more than 4 decades, passed away. The Jai Trophy was revived last year, in a two-day format. Now its importance is about to be the same as it was four decades ago. The Jai Trophy final being held in a three-day format is seen as a good sign in Nepali cricket. 

CAN has been organizing the Prime Minister's Cup every year, including 7 provincial teams and 3 departmental teams. This is a one-day tournament. The top four teams qualify for the Jay Trophy. In the Jay Trophy, four teams competed in a round-robin league in a two-day format, while the final was held over three days. 

Last year, the first edition was held in Janakpur and Birgunj, while this time all the matches were held in the capital. Nepal Police Club defeated Tribhuvan Army Club for the second consecutive year at the upper ground of Mulpani to become the champion. Last year, the first day of the final held in Birgunj was greatly affected due to fog and only 17 overs could be played. This time, the final was full of excitement and the results changed every moment for the entire three days. Therefore, Nepali players got to play for the entire three days for the first time. 

Since it is played in multi-day cricket, the participants say that the impact of Jay Trophy cricket will be seen soon. The more cricket you play, the more your ability will increase, and multi-day games will increase that ability, says Manjit Shrestha, coach of the winning police team Since it is played in multi-day cricket, the impact of Jay Trophy cricket will be seen soon, according to the participants. The more cricket you play, the more your ability will increase, and multi-day games will increase that ability, says Manjit Shrestha, coach of the winning Police. He says, ‘Three-day cricket is very important to us, three-day cricket should continue to be played in Nepali cricket. Only a three-day structure gives you experience on how to handle the game situation, how to play on the wickets. Even if it is not in Twenty20, it helps a lot in playing 50-over cricket, what Nepali cricket needs now is one-day cricket. It would be even better if there were two three-day crickets in a year.’

Nepal’s performance in World Cup League 2, which is the basis for selection for the One-Day World Cup, is in a state of crisis. The Nepali batsmen are not able to spend enough time on the wickets, and its impact is seen in the results. Due to the lack of competitions like the Jay Trophy in domestic cricket, Nepali batsmen are not able to play long innings. If there is a multi-day structure in domestic cricket, it can be believed that it will enhance the development of Nepali batsmen. An example can be taken from the two editions of the Jai Trophy final. Last year, in the final, Army was all out for 74 runs in just 29.2 overs while chasing a target of 103 runs in the fourth innings. But this time, Police, who came in with a target of 227 runs in the final, batted maturely and won easily. This clearly created an environment for Nepali cricketers to play long innings. 

There is no doubt about it, this time the final was competitive because the wicket was better than last year. Police captain Arif Sheikh, who has gained a lot of experience playing the Jai Trophy, says. ‘For us, Jai Trophy is Test cricket. Such a tournament is very important to test basic, skill, fitness. Such a tournament definitely helps Nepali cricket, whether it is to bring in a wide range of players or to develop the fitness and skills of batsmen,’ says Arif. ‘Match temperament and patience are very important to play three-day cricket. Nepali cricket is at a certain level, to reach a higher level, you have to develop skills, and three-day cricket will do that. To play a three-day match, fitness is the first thing you need. The importance of rest and nutrition is also explained by a game with such a structure. If rest and nutrition are not enough, the player cannot give 100 percent on the field the next day.'

CAN had also organized two-day cricket in 2063, but the tournament was postponed due to the Madhesh movement while the league stage match was going on. With the return of the red ball to Nepali cricket after 18 years, new dimensions have been seen. Bhim Sarki, Shankar Rana, Bashir Ahmed and Tritaraj Das had scored centuries. Left-arm spinners dominated last year's tournament. Sagar Dhakal took a total of 11 wickets in the final. Shahab Alam of the Army and Lalit Rajbanshi of the Police took 33 wickets in the tournament. Lalit continued that this time too and took 26 wickets. He says that only after playing three-day cricket can one know what level of fitness is. He says that if cricket with this structure is continued, it will help a lot in Twenty20 and ODI.