New design of Karachi’s National Stadium unveiled ahead of Champions Trophy

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has unveiled a new design of Karachi Stadium on Thursday ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025

According to the details, the construction will be completed in two phases. The first phase of the construction will be completed before the 2025 Champions Trophy while the second phase will be completed later which would be final.

PCB announced the major revamp projects of three cricketing venues including Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, and the new design of Karachi Stadium. Renovation of all three stadiums will be done in two-phase with the first phase before the much anticipated Champions Trophy.

The newly approved map of the national stadium shows a new building is being constructed in front of the main pavilion building. This new building will house VIP boxes, a gallery, media boxes, and boxes for players’ families.

The initial phase will focus on enhancing the stadium’s capacity by constructing a new building opposite the pavilion, targeted for completion ahead of the tournament. The second phase, which includes roofing the entire stadium, will be finalized post-tournament.

The previous week, construction work was started at the National Stadium. The old scoreboard building has been demolished, as well as the Iqbal Qasim and Naseem-ul-Ghani enclosures.

During the Pakistan and Bangladesh Test match, no construction work will be carried out during match timings and spectators will not be allowed during the match.

Construction will continue outside of match timings, either during off-hours or at night. The second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh is scheduled to start on August 30.

Earlier, Chairman Mohsin Naqvi gave his nod for the upgrade of Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi stadiums. The PCB chief’s nod came during his visit to BDP Pattern’s London head office, a renowned architectural company based in the United Kingdom, where he met Chairman Chris Harding and other senior officials.

PCB has allocated Rs12.80 billion for the upgrade of the three venues which will be renovated ahead of the marquee event which has been proposed to be held from February 19 to March 9 next year.

It must be noted that the UK-based architectural company, founded 63 years ago, has designed around 200 stadiums on international standards in various countries leading it to secure more than 1,000 design quality awards.