When will the gates of Peshawar Cricket Stadium open for fans?

The ninth season of Pakistan Super League (PSL) is underway with cricket fans in other major cities of the country enjoying watching their favorite teams and players live on the field.

However, Peshawar fans are still missing out on watching PSL matches and their favorite players live on the field due to construction work at Peshawar’s only international Arbab Niaz Khan Cricket Stadium.

The last one-day international match played at the Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium was in 2006 between Pakistan and India in which Pakistan won.

After that, the International Cricket Council (ICC) raised objections to the facilities in the stadium and banned matches in the stadium.

The construction work on Peshawar Stadium started in 2018 and the then government gave two years for it and promised cricket fans that they will be able to watch PSL matches in 2021.

However, 2021 passed and every year the cricket fans are promised that the construction work will be completed next year, but the construction work is not called complete.

Last year Independent Urdu spoke to the stadium administrators for a report about the same stadium and they said that the construction work will be completed in 2023 but 2023 has passed and now 2024 has started.

The initial cost of this stadium was estimated at more than one and a half billion rupees, but later this cost reached two billion and still the chairs are installed in the stadium but empty, dusty and the fans look forward to the cricket.

How much work has been completed?

During a visit to Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium, Independent Urdu observed that the stadium has chairs and as per the claim of the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, the chairs were ordered from the United Arab Emirates.

Similarly, grass has also been planted in the stadium, but some places were still not planted while the pitch is being prepared.

The work of the sheds on the upper part of the stadium has also been completed while the construction work of the dressing rooms including flood lights, digital screens is complete, but the finishing work is in progress because where the construction work has been done, there is no electricity system.

The building of the hostel for the players in the stadium premises is also complete but only the gray structure has been completed and the rest of the work is yet to be done while the sheets were being put on the walls outside the stadium premises.

A contractor working on the stadium told Independent Urdu that about a year’s worth of work still remains and the work will be completed in a year.

Last year, an official of the Sports Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told Independent Urdu that due to the Corona epidemic, the construction work on the stadium was slow because some materials for the stadium were ordered from outside and due to the Corona epidemic that time But they didn’t know.

Is there any arrangement for parking?

More than 30 thousand spectators will be able to watch cricket in Peshawar’s Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium, but there is not much provision for parking in the stadium premises and the existing parking lot is reserved for government and other officials’ vehicles.

However, adjacent to the same stadium is the famous Tehmas Khan Football Ground of Peshawar, while on the other side there is Peshawar Gymkhana Club, which is an open field and can be used for parking.

However, the organizers have not said anything regarding the parking issue so far and steps will be taken to resolve the parking issue after the completion of the stadium.

It should be noted that this stadium is located in a densely populated area of ​​Peshawar with shops and markets nearby while the busy Hashtnagari Bazaar of Peshawar is also located within the premises of the stadium.

Peshawar’s Serena Hotel is located near the stadium, which is about two kilometers away, while Peshawar’s Government College is located behind the stadium, and for this reason, one of the pavilions of this stadium is named the College Pavilion.

Asfandiar, former director of Mahmaka Khel Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told Independent Urdu last year that the stadium in Peshawar will be Pakistan’s largest in terms of space and will have a gymnasium, swimming pool, cafeteria, and other facilities.

The first one-day match at Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium was scheduled to be played between Pakistan and India on November 2, 1984, according to Cricinfo website, but two days before the match, India’s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by the neighboring country. The team tour was cancelled.

The first match in this stadium was played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 1995 while the last Test match was played in 2003 between Pakistan and Bangladesh.