KARACHI: Niaz Stadium was once a regular Test centre. But Hyderabad’s only cricket stadium has been in international wilderness for years having hosted its last Test in 1984 and last One-day International in 2008.
But Hyderabad’s isolation could end as early as next year after Najam Sethi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, hinted that Sindh’s second largest city might host a Pakistan Super League match in its fourth season.
Basking in the glory of a successful edition of PSL which concluded with the final in Karachi on Sunday night, Sethi promised that several other cities will be added to the list of venues for PSL 4. Other than Hyderabad, Multan, Rawalpindi and even Peshawar could be on the list.
“The Sindh CM has promised me to reconstruct Niaz Stadium of Hyderabad so, let’s hope for PSL matches in another city of Sindh,” Sethi told reporters.
“We are also planning to have double weekend matches. Matches will be held on weekends in UAE and on weekends in Pakistan and for that we’ll have three production teams to ensure smooth logistic arrangements. One team will see production in the south of Pakistan including Karachi and Multan.“Another team will be in north of Pakistan to cover Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar while one team will be in the UAE,” he said.
This means that the Board will have to spend around one million dollars more on just production in PSL 4. But at the moment Sethi is not bothered by it.“We have opened the doors, cricket has returned and now we will have more matches in Pakistan,” he said. “West Indies is coming to Pakistan and they will play matches in Karachi. I have delivered my promise.”
Speaking about the National Stadium in Karachi, Sethi said that renovation work at the historic venue will resume after the three-match Twenty20 International series against the West Indies. The series will be played from April 1-3.“National Stadium will have more corporate boxes all around the field. It will get a new look including a state of the art media centre.”
