The potential impact of the construction job on Karachi's Test against England
Although continued renovations may have an impact on their diplomatic commitments this year, including the Test against England in Karachi, the PCB is convinced that Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the National Stadium in Karachi may be ready in time for the Champions Trophy next month.
The committee has now moved the second Check against Bangladesh, previously scheduled in Karachi, to Rawalpindi. Speaking to reporters on Monday in Lahore, Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chair, acknowledged that "matches]during the year ] does move back and forth but the primary goal is that these venues are prepared before the Champions Trophy".
England play their second of the three Testing in Karachi, from October 15-19. The PCB did not exactly nails down Karachi as a place for England when it announced the move of Bangladesh's Test to Rawalpindi on Sunday.
" At this stage, we will not like to speculate on the opening of the second Test in Karachi from 15-19 October and will continue to work strongly with the builders and design experts on the safe and secure opening of the match, while keeping the England and Wales Cricket Board updated", the speech said.
How the Bangladeshi venues changed hands, clearly demonstrating the flexibility of the situation. The PCB announced the Karachi Test may be played behind closed doors and without fans two weeks after posting solution rates online. Finally on Sunday they announced they were moving it to Rawalpindi, because they wanted to ensure the restoration job went on continuous and that hosting a sport while for major work was being undertaken could have an effect on the sport.
On Monday, Naqvi explained the reasons behind the decision. Although we thought we could play matches without crowds, various security organizations and police said it should n't be a game even if there are insiders working.
" None of our stadiums could qualify internationally. Not the seats, not bathrooms, and a view that looks like you are watching from 500 metres away"
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi
According to some reports, Naqvi implied a change in the Champions Trophy's locations or dates from the draft schedule the PCB had submitted to the ICC. In a statement on Tuesday the PCB emphatically denied that was the case.
" During the media talk, which is available on the PCB's official YouTube channel, the PCB chair clearly stated that the redevelopment and redesign of the three designated stadia would be completed on schedule, ensuring readiness to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The ICC Champions Trophy, which continues to be regarded as one of the top eight-team international competitions, is not in any way related to the ICC Champions Trophy, which is still a top priority for the PCB as a premier eight-team event, despite the fact that some domestic matches may need to be moved to ensure uninterrupted construction work.
Naqvi did make an important point about the urgent need for this renovation work during that media discussion. " Our stadiums and those abroad, there is a massive difference", he said. " In no way were our stadiums international-standard stadiums. None of our stadiums could qualify internationally. Not the seats, not bathrooms, and a view that looks like you are watching from 500 metres away. If I want to stay in a 1980 model then great, but the world has gone far ahead".
Naqvi noted that despite Lahore and Karachi's final year receiving complete renovations, a partial renovation will make them ready for the Champions Trophy in time for the opening ceremony.
" Right now we have five months", he said. " In that time, definitely the two enclosures on either side]in the Gaddafi stadium ] and the main building]will be ready], that is the focus for now.
" The stadiums will be totally upgraded. Not just this but we plan to have a new stadium in Islamabad, in Abbottabad, we want to work on that as well. We've written to the local authorities asking that we upgrade some stadiums so we can play domestic and even international cricket there. These stadiums will be 100 % upgraded but in the next five months, the target we have, we hope to complete that.
" The New York stadium]for the T20 World Cup ] was completed in the last 10-15 days. We will be ready well before that timeline".
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