Champions Trophy that will begin in less than 50 days faces another setback as the construction work in National Stadium hasn’t been completed despite the extended deadline.
With the tournament starting from 19th February, the first match was expected to be played in the National Stadium, Karachi. This is the largest cricket ground of Pakistan with a capacity of accommodating 34238 spectators.
It was built in the 1950s, however, given the announcement of the champion’s trophy, the stadium went into major renovations. Although there were doubts related to the tournament’s hosting in the beginning, things settled down after both PCB and BCCI agreed over a hybrid model.
With things finally settling down and the hopes of witnessing Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan, it came as a surprise that the construction work in the National Stadium is still in process.
The phase 1 of construction work was expected to be completed by 15th December 2024, it was later extended to 31st December and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has announced yet another extension until 15th January, 2025.
The project’s budget is around 3.5 billion. The Stadium’s structure work is complete but its finishing work on the floor is still under process along with fencing around the ground as it hasn’t been removed.
Rooms for the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Anti-Doping Units are being constructed. Two dressing rooms are being built on the first floor, Hospitality boxes are also expected on the second and third floor and media center on the fourth floor.
The scoreboard will also be replaced with a digital screen and installation of LED light is part of the phase 1 which will be completed before the tournament begins.
A tri-nation series is expected to test the stadium’s capacity for the mega event. This stadium will host 3 of fifteen matches of the tournament including the inaugural match between Pakistan and New Zealand.
