CM Murad urges PCB to get Niaz Stadium functional for PSL matches

KARACHI: The new members of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management committee, Zaheer Pitafi, Khurram Soomro, and Kaleem Ullah called on Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah at CM House and discussed uplift of Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.

The chief minister congratulated the new members of the PCB Board and urged them to play their due role in bringing PSL matches to Niaz Stadium Hyderabad.

“Some PSL matches next year should be held at Niaz Stadium Hyderabad. We are ready to collaborate with PCB to develop the stadium,” he told PCB members.

The members assured the chief minister that they would take up his proposal in the PCB Board. It was also agreed that the Karachi Stadium also needed to be upgraded.

The meeting also discussed the overall promotion of local cricket in the province.

PCB Member Zaheer Pitafi told the chief minister that he would make efforts to develop local clubs in rural areas of the province.

Niaz Stadium History

Niaz Stadium was established in November 1961 by then-commissioner Hyderabad Niaz Ahmed. The inaugural first-class match was played here between South Zone and Pakistan Education Board on March 16-18, 1962.

It hosted the first international Test between Pakistan and England on March 16-21, 1973. Niaz Stadium, in all, has hosted five Tests and seven ODIs till January 2008.

The Stadium was also the inaugural centre of the 1987 World Cup. The historic stadium holds the record of first-ever hat-trick of ODI by Jalaluddin.

The ground remained with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for 11 years until the municipal committee revoked the MoU arbitrarily on April 2, 2018 and seized control of it.