Islamabad: Another effort to build a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Islamabad, the federal capital, by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Federal Interior Minister, who is also the Chairman of PCB, has directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to present a feasible plan as soon as possible. The Chairman PCB has suggested that the stadium should be built in collaboration with CDA and PCB. The proposed project is not part of the plan for hosting the Champions Trophy next year, but the Cricket Board wants to build a cricket stadium under long-term planning. Pakistan is the only country among major cricket-playing nations that does not have an international cricket stadium in its capital.According to sources in CDA, Interior Minister Mohsin Naveed has discussed the initial plan for building a cricket stadium in Islamabad with the Chairman of CDA Muhammad ali randhava. CDA will soon identify the land and finalize the details to present a final plan to the Interior Minister. Pakistan Cricket Board has made several efforts in the past to build an international cricket stadium in Islamabad. The plan for building a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Islamabad has been under consideration many times, and several meetings have been held under the federal government and PCB, but the project has not moved beyond papers yet.The first plan to build a cricket stadium in Islamabad was made in 2011 by the then Chairman of CDA Task Force, Faisal Sakhi Butt. Initially, land was identified at Shakra Parian, but later the project was abandoned, and now the land is under the management of Pakistan Army. Later, PCB Chairmen Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf also made efforts to build the stadium. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan tasked then PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja in 2022 to build a stadium in view of hosting the Champions Trophy in 2025. CDA was also given the responsibility to allocate land for this purpose, but no significant progress was made on the project. The recent proposal for building the stadium is more feasible because the heads of both organizations are the same person, Mohsin Naveed, who is the Chairman of PCB and also looks after CDA as the Interior Minister.
