Pakistan Cricket Board to Illuminate Stadiums with New Floodlights for Champions Trophy

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) plans to install new floodlights at stadiums in Karachi and Lahore before the Champions Trophy next year. Smaller venues like Quetta, Abbottabad, and Peshawar will also benefit. PCB aims to ensure international standards while addressing power issues with generators.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is set to introduce new floodlights at stadiums in Karachi and Lahore, aiming to enhance lighting for the upcoming Champions Trophy early next year.

PTI reports that the PCB's initiative includes placing new light towers on a rental basis not only in major cities like Karachi and Lahore but also in smaller venues such as Quetta, Abbottabad, and Peshawar. This approach will support a jam-packed domestic season by enabling matches to be played under lights in hot weather conditions.

The PCB has opted to move existing floodlights in Karachi to Quetta and those in Lahore to Rawalpindi to optimize costs. Invitations for tenders to supply rental light towers for the period from August 2024 to July 2025 have been issued.

While exact costs remain unspecified, a PCB source mentioned that some of the light towers would be sponsored. The primary goal is to equip smaller venues for domestic cricket and ensure international-standard lighting at major venues like Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi for international and Champions Trophy matches.

Tenders have also been invited for generators to provide stable power supply to the light towers across Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Abbottabad, Quetta, and Peshawar, addressing power fluctuations and load shedding issues.

The ongoing renovations and an intensive facelift of the stadiums, particularly in Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, have already been budgeted by the PCB. As a result, the second Test with Bangladesh in Karachi will be held without spectators.