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Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are reportedly considering moving at least one Test from the upcoming three-match series against England, starting from October 7, to an overseas location. In preparation to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, a few of the major cricket venues in Pakistan, including the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the National Stadium in Karachi, and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, are currently undergoing major renovation work, but the construction delays could force the PCB to not host a Test match versus England there.
Notably, the first Test of the three-match series between Pakistan and England will be hosted at the Multan Cricket Stadium from October 7, but since this venue isn’t undergoing renovation work for the Champions Trophy, the contest could go as planned. But the subsequent two Test matches are planned to take place in Karachi and Rawalpindi, which could lead to the PCB moving these contests overseas.
PCB are renovating cricket stadiums in Pakistan to host ICC Champions Trophy 2025
The Champions Trophy is the first major ICC cricket tournament involving all the major nations in the world, set to be hosted by Pakistan since 1996. During that particular year, Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore hosted the final of the ODI World Cup, which saw Sri Lanka defeat Australia to claim the coveted 50-overs ICC trophy for the first-time in history.
According to the report from ESPNcricinfo, another major reason for the PCB to potentially move the one or multiple Test matches between Pakistan and England is the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, scheduled to be held in the country from October 15 to 16. Since this event is expected to have high level guests arriving from all over the world to Islamabad, it could get tricky to host the second Test in a nearby city Rawalpindi from October 15 to 19.
Pakistan slump to number eight spot in the ICC Test rankings
Regardless, Pakistan cricket team will be looking forward to redeeming themselves in Test cricket against England next month after a poor showing against Bangladesh in the two-match Test series. They lost two consecutive Test matches at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium after making decent starts versus Bangladesh, which led to them slumping down to the number eight spot in the ICC rankings in quite some time.
