Pakistan opened a stadium that was renovated for the Champions Trophy in Lahore on Friday. The eight-team Champions Trophy will be performed in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi from February 19th to March 9th, but the tournament matches in the United Arab Emirates will be performed after refusing to play in Pakistan. . Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium has been reopened after a 117-day renovation.
A series of warm-up Torinations matches between Pakistan New Zealand and South Africa will begin at the stadium on Saturday.
“We are going to show the world that we are good hosts,” Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif said at the opening ceremony.
Pakistan hosted a major tournament in 1996 and co-hosted the World Cup with India and Sri Lanka before enforcing security concerns.
The militants attacked Sri Lankan team buses in Lahore in 2009, killing eight people and injured several touring players, extending a break from holding Pakistan’s international matches.
However, the biggest concern about the Champions Trophy is whether the stadium will be ready.
Pakistan’s Cricket Board (PCB) has first pledged that Lahore stadiums will be open by the end of January.
Karachi’s National Bank Stadium will host Pakistan and New Zealand’s first Champions Trophy match within two weeks.
Local media reported that the renovation had exceeded three deadlines between December 15th and January 25th before the final pledge was resolved by January 31st.
However, work was still underway in Karachi on Thursday.
“The sounds of the hammer, iron rod and drill machine still echo across the empty stand,” the English Dawn Newspaper said.
“It’s true that the work isn’t done, but it works well in that finishing stage.”
President Asif Ali Zardari is scheduled to open the Karachi Stadium on Tuesday.
Work was also continued at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium as workers sprayed green Pakistani flags and constructed scoreboards on the ground on the rison area near the capital of Islamabad.
The sport has a deep connection with the national pride and domestic politics of cricket-crazed Pakistan.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi also served as Minister of Home Affairs, and former Prime Minister Imran Khan used his international cricket career as a stepping stone to politics.
“I want to congratulate everyone, this is a national victory,” Nakvi told reporters before the opening of Lahore Stadium.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published by Syndicate Feed.)
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