Problems seem to be mounting for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as they face a race against time to handover a proper stadium to the International Cricket Council (ICC) before the Champions Trophy gets underway. According to The Times Of India report, the construction and upgradation work is still underway at the National Stadium in Karachi, Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
A source following the developments said,"It is a very disappointing picture. All three stadiums are far from ready and it's not renovation or refurbishment, but proper construction which is underway. There is so much work left with seats, floodlights, facilities and even the outfield and playing surfaces,"
The report further states there is not much time left for the venues to be handed over and it's not a surprise that there are discussions about moving the entire tournament to the UAE.
The PCB has to hand over the tournament venues to ICC by February 12, however, the stadium work which was scheduled to be finished by December 31, is yet to be completed. A team from the ICC will leave for Pakistan towards the end of the week to do a status check
Will Pakistan host ICC Champions Trophy?
It's been long time since Pakistan has hosted any ICC tournament. Champions Trophy came as a welcome relief for the PCB as well as the cricket fans in Pakistan. However, the race against time to complete stadium's renovation work have left fans worried.
ICC has a checklist of things that needs to there while hosting such high profile events. If PCB fails to tick all the boxes then there are chances that the tournament will be moved outside Pakistan handing the board a huge loss after doing all the hard work to try and keep the hosting rights.
The PCB has assured the fans and media that all upgradation work was progressing on schedule and will be completed before or around the set deadlines.
