KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Mohammad Khan, while inaugurating the newly-built High Performance Centre here on Thursday that has officially been named after the legendary Pakistan batsman Hanif Mohammad, said the up-gradation of facilities at the venue will serve the game well in the country.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the state-of-the-art facility, the PCB chief observed it was appropriate that the centre is being dedicated to one of the greatest players ever to grace the game.

“Hanif was one the greatest cricketers of all times and easily the most recognizable face of Pakistan during the early years of the nation. It is a small tribute from the Pakistan Cricket Board to a true legend of the game,” Shaharyar told the gathering soon after inauguration on Thursday.

“Hanif was the finest ambassador of the game who served the country for many years and played some exceptional innings. I hope the young players during their stay here will get inspiration from the life and achievements of great Little Master. I will advise them to follow in his footsteps.”

The PCB chief and Hanif’s eldest son Shoaib Mohammad, himself a former Pakistan batsman, jointly cut the ribbon to officially open the centre at the ceremony which was also attended by PCB’s chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed, chairman of the board’s executive committee Najam Sethi, majority of the PCB governing board members, advisor to PCB chairman southern region Salahuddin Ahmed Sallu, ex-Test cricketers, national selector Wasim Haider and senior officials of the Karachi City Cricket Association.

Shaharyar observed it is the third such facility in the country after Lahore and Multan and it would help look after young talent of the Sindh province. “It would provide opportunities to the players and help in enhancing their skills under the supervision of professional coaches and support staff employed by cricket board. The PCB has recently inaugurated an academy in Multan and is looking forward to promote the game in the remote areas as well,” the PCB chief added.

“It was the PCB’s vision to unearth talent from the grass-root level, and the latest high performance centre will help the young players to work on their skills and showcase their talent at the international level. Furthermore, the facility here would also become home to teams visiting Karachi. The facilities provided are as good as any three-star hotel and would encounter no problem in accommodating ‘A’, Under-19 and women’s teams,” he said.

“In my view, this centre will be appreciated by everyone visiting it. Hats off to [National Stadium’s general manager] Arshad Khan and his staff for the efforts all of them put into raising this centre in a remarkably short span of time.”

Former Test spinner and two-time ex-chief selector Iqbal Qasim is being tipped to head the high performance centre, the official approval of his appointment will be made during the PCB governing body meeting on Friday.

The Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre now has a total strength of 42 fully-furnished rooms, with 30 newly-constructed rooms in the new block that also contains a world-class lecture room, a gym and a swimming pool.

Shoaib, while talking to Dawn, said he was overcome by emotions at the naming of the centre after his illustrious father. “To be honest I have no words to say except that I feel proud of the fact my father is being remembered by PCB in such a fine manner.”

Meanwhile, Sethi, who is also chairman of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), dispelled the impression created by the media that the final of the second edition will be staged in Dubai instead of Lahore, as announced during the player-draft auction a couple of months ago, adding the apprehensions about the PSL being hijacked held no weight.

“There is ambiguity over the venue issue I guess. As declared earlier, we do plan to stage the PSL final in Lahore on March 5. But it’s not in our hands [holding the match]. The Punjab government and the provincial interior ministry are both coordinating with the federal interior ministry in concrete efforts to bring the PSL final to Lahore,” Sethi said. “These are all security-related issues which may take time to become a reality but at this point in time, we are looking forward to play the final [at the Gaddafi Stadium] on March.”

On the thorny issue of PSL and the matters related to the league, Sethi expressed his annoyance at the media’s approach and advised it not to make any attempts to run the PCB.

“I say it again that there is no truth whatsoever as regards [media] fanning news of PSL being taken hostage by a particular group. It is not only a property of the Pakistan Cricket Board, it is our national asset,” Sethi stated. “The module of the company is clear that it is a PCB property. A case has been filed against the PCB over the ownership status of the same. But let me make it clear to everyone here that what we are trying to do is give PSL a legal status by appointing a board of directors to run the company, which itself would be a subsidiary of the PCB.

“Both PCB chairman [Shaharyar] and I would be retiring in August. So what we are trying at the moment is to give PSL long-term protection for financial and technical reasons. While the heads of departments have approved the formation of the PSL as a company, the media it seems is trying to sabotage the whole project by making mountain of a molehill. My simple request to the media is to advise the PCB but not try and run it,” concluded Sethi.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2016