The Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday inaugurated the renovated National Stadium in Karachi, one of the three venues in the country that will host the Champions Trophy, taking the opportunity to reward the 700 workers who toiled day and night to complete the project.
The stadium will host the inaugural ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match between New Zealand and Pakistan on February 19.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi acknowledged the efforts of the workers, including labourers, technicians, engineers and loaders, saying without their persistence it would not have been possible to complete the upgradation on time.
The stadium will also host the South Africa versus Pakistan tri-series match on Wednesday and the ICC Champions Trophy final on February 14.
The stadium, which was under renovation for the last four months, has a brand new state-of-the-art building at the far end of the historical venue. Besides, new LED lights, two screens and better facilities for spectators have also been put in place.
The new building houses dressing rooms, dedicated areas for broadcasters and match officials and hospitality boxes.
The stadium, however, retains its old look and the placement of the bigger screen on the ground will block the view of the people sitting in the enclosure.
Project manager, Mohsin Chohan conceded that the new screen will have to be moved to another spot after the tournament.
The PCB had initially budgeted Pakistan Rupees four billion on the renovation of the National Stadium but they appear to have overrun the cost with some work still remaining to be done after the Champions Trophy.
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