KARACHI, Nov 8: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday said it might have to drop Rawalpindi as a venue for the Test series against India in January and February because of the slow pace of construction work at the stadium.

Saleem Altaf, Director-General of the PCB, said that he had recently visited the Pindi stadium which is undergoing a massive facelift and work still remained to be done. “The way things are progressing the entire stadium should be complete by June next year and India tours earlier in the year. We might shift a Test to Faisalabad,” he said.

India is due to play Tests in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi and also a ODI in the twin capital city but Saleem said 30 per cent of the construction work on the new pavilion remained and the main issue was with the outfield. “The outfield is in really bad shape and we have sent our chief curator Agha Zahid to inspect it. He has given a report but it will take time for the outfield to be repaired properly,” he added. He said Faisalabad was the alternate venue for the Indian tour if the outfield is also not ready.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) had also dropped Pindi as a venue for the Champions Trophy that was postponed this year for security reasons and will now be held in 2009. But Altaf said security was not an issue as far matches in Pindi were concerned and all the aspects of the forthcoming tour were thoroughly discussed with the Indian board officials in New Delhi this week.—Agencies