With the Champions Trophy 2025 set to start on February 19, Pakistan will host an ICC event for the first time since 1996. Beginning in August 2023, the three locations in Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi will undergo renovations, with a completion date of December 31, 2024. However, the schedule was extended by the Pakistan Cricket Board, which said the grounds will be prepared by January 2.
Despite the PCB’s official statement, there are a lot of rumours circulating about whether the stadiums would be match-ready with nearly 40 days till the big event.
Aakash Chopra, a former cricket player who is now a broadcaster, expressed scepticism about the preparations and denounced the fact that the stadiums are still not finished.
“You were given INR 600 crore to improve your venues and make investments in infrastructure development, and the Champions Trophy is scheduled to take place.” Thus, you begin working, and Pakistan followed suit. Then a video was released. Not even ‘R’ of ready, it revealed. On his YouTube channel, Chopra stated, “The floodlight job is not finished in some places, and the corporate box, press box, and dressing room are not ready.”
Since the ICC hasn’t commented on it and neither the PCB nor any Pakistani outlet have denied it, we’ll presume it’s real. In actuality, one of the ICC deadlines for turning over the grounds has already passed. The ICC has the right to deny you the tournament entirely if they believe you won’t be able to prepare them,” he continued.
According to later reports, no serious issues were brought up by the ICC delegation that visited the locations to look at the rehabilitation project. However, videos of the venues that have surfaced show a scene where the press box, dressing room, stands, and floodlights that are still under construction have all created a shadow.
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