The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is going to install new floodlights at two of the three stadiums scheduled to host ICC Champions Trophy 2025 matches. Having gotten a budget of INR 586 crore approved by the ICC, the PCB has started to upgrade things. Renovations at the National Stadium in Karachi and the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore had already started, and now they are ramping them up.
PCB to install ‘floodlights’, action & camera to come later
To cut costs, Karachi and Lahore will get new floodlights on rent. The ones currently used at the National Stadium and Gaddafi Stadium will move to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and Bugti Stadium in Quetta. The PCB has started inviting tenders to provide light towers on a rental basis from August 2025 to July 2025.
“The idea behind this process is to ensure smaller venues are also equipped with light towers for domestic cricket and major venues like Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi where most of the international games and CT (Champions Trophy) matches would be played get towers which ensure international standard and uninterrupted provision of light during matches,” a PCB source told PTI.
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PCB improving things slowly but surely
The PCB will install floodlights at smaller venues like Abbottabad Cricket Stadium and Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar as well to ensure there are no stoppages in a hectic domestic season. A different tender for generators that’ll power these floodlights has also been issued as several cities in Pakistan face constant power fluctuations.
We have seen in the past how such issues have hindered play. In the PSL 2024 season, there was one particular instance at the Multan Cricket Stadium where an issue with floodlights stopped the match. To ensure that it doesn’t happen in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 or otherwise, these generations will be used at multiple grounds: Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Abbottabad, Quetta, and Peshawar.
