KARACHI: With just two days to go for the start of last leg of the HBL Pakistan Super league, the refurbished National Stadium — venue of the eight matches including the 17th March final — is undergoing last-minute preparations before Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars play the first game.

The renovation of country’s iconic cricket center began in November 2017 with a budget of Rs 1.5 billion after it was confirmed that last year’s PSL final would be played in Karachi. Now the stadium gives a completely different picture. The dilapidated chairs have been replaced by sets of coloured ones, which generally represent the six competing teams in addition to several colour schemes while a major chunk of the budget has also been spent on the main building which houses the dressing-rooms, the chairman and corporate boxes, and the media centre besides the facilities in the entire stadium.

There is no doubt the PSL is here to stay and it is the platform on which the Pakistan Cricket Board hopes to convince and host top cricketing nations in the country sooner than later.

The coming fixtures will definitely be a huge step in that direction and the sight of leading foreign players like Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo and Colin Munro playing in Pakistan this time will further cement the status of PSL as one of the topmost T20 leagues across the cricketing globe.

The good news from the administrative point of view is that the outgoing chief executive of the International Cricket Council David Richardson heads a impressive list of distinguished guests — including security experts — who will be attending the matches in Karachi.

“Our intentions are very clear — to bring [top-class] international cricket back in Pakistan,” PCB chairman Ehsan Mani said during a visit to the stadium in late afternoon. “The success of PSL in Kar­achi will send a positive message to the world that Pakistan is a very safe country.”

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2019