Miandad wants National Stadium to resemble Lord's

Pakistan Cricket Board Director General Javed Miandad wants the National Stadium at Karachi to look like the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London or the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia.

With this view in mind, he has ordered renovation work to be done at the stadium so that it undergoes a complete facelift and boasts of world-class standards in time for the Sri Lanka series which begins next month.

“My dream is to transform the National Stadium into a cricket facility that is second to none. National Stadium is one of our major Test centre’s and I want it to look as good as Lord’s or the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)," Miandad was quoted as saying to Pakistan daily, The News.

One of Pakistan’s most gifted batsmen, Miandad also holds fond memories of the venue as it is his home ground. Miandad’s career divned 27 long years during which he played 233 ODIs and 124 Tests for his country.

Although inaugurated in 1955, the National Stadium at Karachi first hosted an ODI in 1980 which was played between the home team, Pakistan and the touring West Indies.

"It is very important for the National Stadium to become a secure facility otherwise it might not get Tests or ODIs in the future,” said Miandad who seemed concerned about the future of the venue.

"According to the security guidelines given to us by the International Cricket Council (ICC), we can’t have unconcerned units connected to our Test centres. That is why we have asked shops and offices to relocate from the National Stadium as soon as possible," said the youngest captain of Pakistan.

According to Miandad, work on the ground will be completed in 15 days well before the start of the series opener against Sri Lanka. If completed in time, the National Stadium at Karachi is expected to host the first match between the two teams.

The schedule of Sri Lanka’s tour to Pakistan will be declared next week.