ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Bad news for Pakistan arrives from Karachi

The Champions Trophy 2025 is less than a month away with all the participating teams fine-tuning their preparations for the tournament. However, the stadiums which will host the tournament are still not fully ready which has raised questions over the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

There have been updates around Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium regularly which claimed that the work is still not complete, although it is nearing its business end. Finally, there is some update on the National Stadium in Karachi as well from the PCB.

Also read: Full list of records broken by Steve Smith as he enters the 10000 Test Runs club

Upgradation work is still ongoing at Karachi's National Stadium

The PCB has stated that the civil work of the National Stadium, Karachi has been fully completed but the finishing work is 80% done. The board is confident that the work is fully completed before the upcoming tri-series between Pakistan, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Bilal Chohan, the head of the National Stadium upgrade project, has clearly stated that all the civil engineering tasks have been completed, and work on the front glass of the new building is in progress.

The installation of new floodlights in the stadium will begin on Wednesday (January 29) and the floodlights have been cleared from Karachi port. Both the interior lifts are also ready to work.

The replay screens will be brought from Dubai within a couple of days and the air conditioning system has been already tested and it will be done again after the finishing of the glasswork. The furniture will be installed on the two floors of the new building within the next two days.

These floors include the VIP boxes which is the reason why they hold so much importance. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) is also working hard in stadium upgradation as they are removing the trash. After the work is completed, the roof of the stadium will be cleaned before the stadium gets fully ready to host international matches.

Karachi to host the opening game of Champions Trophy

The National Stadium in Karachi will host three matches in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. It also involves the opening match of the tournament between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand on February 19.

The second match of the tournament in Karachi will be between Afghanistan and South Africa on February 21. The last match at Karachi will be played between England and South Africa on March 1.

Karachi will also host two matches in the tri-series before the Champions Trophy. The series between Pakistan, South Africa, and New Zealand is seen as a preparation for these teams ahead of the big tournament.

First ICC tournament in years

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is under a lot of pressure due to the condition of its stadiums currently. Not even a single stadium is completed yet which is a big cause of concern.

The Champions Trophy 2025 is the first ICC tournament in Pakistan since the ODI World Cup 1996 which was jointly hosted by Pakistan. While every other team will play in Pakistan, India will play its matches in Dubai due to the hybrid model.