Lahore/Karachi, Jan 10: The Pakistan Cricket Board has rubbished speculations that the ICC Champions Trophy will be moved out of the country due to delayed construction work at three stadiums that will host the event, starting February 19.
The venues in Pakistan organising the tournament are Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and Karachi’s National Bank Stadium, while India will play all its matches in Dubai.
A PCB source said that the presence of a large International Cricket Council (ICC) delegation, including broadcast, hospitality and event operations officials, is an affirmation that the event is on schedule in Pakistan.
“The PCB has spent nearly PKR 12 billion to upgrade our stadiums to make them fitting for an event like the Champions Trophy, which was awarded to us,” he said.
The source also said that an earlier statement about the stadium’s work progress was also given out because of speculation in the media that the event would be moved out because of incomplete work at the venues.
“We gave the statement because our media also started flashing such speculative news without checking the facts. This would have caused chaos and confusion amongst the PCB, ICC, government, commercial partners and fans affecting the ticketing and marketing of the event,” he said.
The official added that a local reporter had, without permission, filmed the construction work at National Stadium Karachi and presented a negative picture.
Pak’s preparatory prog
Pakistan has started its preparations for next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka by launching a player’s improvement, scouting and grooming programme called ‘strike force’, which will begin in Lahore from January 13.
Initially the programme, headed by former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, was to focus on scouting for young talent with the potential to develop into power-hitters to suit the demands of the shortest format of the game “but, due to logistical challenges we decided to launch the strike force programme by holding a 90-day specialised camp for 25 players who have either already played for Pakistan, done well in domestic or under-19 level or in T20 leagues in the country. “In the phase which begins from 13th under Razzaq’s supervision, he will see how many players can be shortlisted for specialised roles in the T20 squad,” Abdullah Khurrum, who heads the PCB’s domestic cricket department, said.
He said further down Raazzaq would be monitoring the domestic T20 events and also go around the country to find raw talent from local events. (PTI)
