KARACHI: There was a bit of everything thrown into the inauguration ceremony of the newly-renovated National Bank Stadium, maybe to make up for the lack of an official opening ceremony for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.

The hosting of the eight-team extravaganza, the first International Cricket Cou­ncil tournament to be hosted by Pakistan since the 1996 World Cup, was the reason for the renovation of the ven­ue along with Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

A four-floor building, featuring new dressing rooms and hospitality boxes, along with big, bright SMD screens made up the larger part of the stadium’s upgrade, which started as Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s ambitious move just over a 100 days ago.

The brand new building flickered and shone through Tuesday evening, with all its boxes lit up and occupied by cricket officials and political dignitaries. All kinds of lights were projected onto it, be it laser lights or spotlights, while the organisers didn’t hesitate from testing the newly-installed AI-controlled floodlight, by constantly making them flicker as artists Sahir Ali Bagga, Ali Zafar and Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan.

The crowd, which gathered in decent numbers eventually, had started pouring into the stands minutes before sunset and filled them up quite quickly. And the roar in the stands grew by a few decibels when Pakistan players, who had graced the new dressing room earlier, walked on to the ground with their tracksuits on, before unveiling the side’s new jersey for the Champions Trophy once again after they did the same in Lahore last week.

The jersey unveiling was followed by fireworks that went on for about three to four minutes, and lit up the night sky while also reflecting onto the venue’s freshly mown outfield ahead of Paki­stan’s tri-series match against South Africa.

Earlier, PCB chief Mohsin had called a lunch for the workers and labourers who had worked on the venue’s upgrade over the last few months.

According to the board, several major upgrades have been completed at the National Bank Stadium “to enhance both the playing and viewing experience”.

These include the installation of 350 LED lights to improve broadcast quality, the fixing of two digital replay screens and the addition of over 5,000 new chairs to “enhance spectator comfort”

The stadium is set to host the Champions Trophy opener between Pakistan and New Zealand on Feb 19 as well as two more matches during the tournament.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2025