Capital set to get modern cricket stadium

Federal minister directs CDA to expedite planning for the project

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is making another attempt to build an international-standard, state-of-the-art cricket stadium in the federal capital.

The Federal Minister for Interior, who is also the Chairman of the PCB, has directed the Federal Development Authority (CDA) to present a feasible plan for this project as soon as possible. The PCB Chairman has suggested that the stadium should be constructed through a collaboration between the PCB and the CDA.

The proposed plan is not part of the preparations for hosting the Champions Trophy next year. Instead, the PCB aims to build the stadium as part of its long-term planning. Pakistan is the only major cricketing nation whose capital does not have a stadium for hosting international cricket.

According to sources in the Federal Development Authority, the Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, has discussed the preliminary plan for the cricket stadium with the CDA Chairman. The CDA will finalise the land identification and other details soon and present the final plan to the Interior Minister.

The PCB has made several attempts in the past to build an international cricket stadium in Islamabad. The idea of a state-of-the-art stadium in the capital has been considered multiple times, and several meetings have been held under the federal government and the PCB. However, the project has yet to move beyond the planning stage.

The first proposal for a cricket stadium in Islamabad was made in 2011 by then CDA Chairman Task Force Faisal Sakhi Butt. Initially, land for the stadium was identified in Shakarparian, but the project was later halted, and the land is now under the Pakistan Army's jurisdiction. Subsequent efforts to build the stadium were made by former PCB Chairmen Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf. In 2022, former Prime Minister Imran Khan tasked PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja with building the stadium in preparation for hosting the 2025 Champions Trophy. CDA was also given the responsibility to allocate land, but no significant progress was made at the time either.

The recent proposal for the stadium is seen as more feasible because it involves leadership from the same individual, as the CDA operates under the Ministry of Interior, and Naqvi heads both the PCB and the Ministry of Interior.