MUZAFFARABAD, July 14: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday formally took over the control of Quaid-i-Azam International Cricket Stadium in Azad Kashmir’s lakeside city of Mirpur to promote first class cricket in the region, officials said.

The stadium which falls under the administrative control of Mirpur Development Authority (MDA) has been built at a cost of Rs140 million from internal resources and has played host to some international and national sporting events in the past.

MDA officials said the stadium had been handed over to the PCB in line with a decision of the AJK government so that the country’s controlling authority of cricket could hold national and international matches there.

The officials said the stadium had been given to PCB on rent initially for 30 years. Apart from the playground, all four pavilions and car-parking lot of stadium will also be under the control of PCB which will gradually install electronic scoreboard, floodlights and all other allied facilities - prerequisite for any national and international limited-over or test match of senior and junior teams.

A five-member committee comprising two officials of the PCB and one each official of MDA, District Cricket Association and the AJK Sports Board will jointly look after the stadium for smooth management of events.

The MDA, officials said, would be able to use the stadium for 30 days in a calendar year and under the agreement 260 of its 16,000 seats would be in the MDA’s control during all national and international cricket events.

The handover was formalised through an agreement signed by PCB’s chief operative officer Shafqat Naghmi and MDA chairman Dr Mohammad Amin Chaudhry on behalf of their organisations at a hotel in Mirpur. AJK senior minister Malik Mohammad Nawaz was chief guest on the occasion.

Apart from the signatories and the chief guest, the ceremony was also addressed by Shakil Ahmed Sheikh, member PCB’s Governing Body, Regional General Manager North Hateeb Rizwan, AJK ministers Chaudhry Mohammad Yousaf and Col (retired) Raja Nasim Khan and AJK prime minister’s adviser Naheed Tariq.