PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja had announced installing two drop-in pitches in Karachi and Lahore during the draft of HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season seven
25 March, 2022
PHOTO COURTESY: Fox Sports
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has delayed the plan of installing drop-in pitches from Australia.
PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja had announced installing two drop-in pitches in Karachi and Lahore during the draft of HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season seven.
According to ESPNCricinfo, PCB now wants to be sure whether the concept of drop-in pitches would be feasible. They are now planning to hire an expert for consultation on the matter. PCB is looking forward to getting soil from Australia and seeding it at potential venues for trial purposes.
The initial idea was to import two readymade pitches as a short-term solution to help Pakistan prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup, hosted by Australia in October-November.
As per the contract, the company responsible for importing the drop-in pitches has been asked to delay the purchase, which would have been a lengthy process, possibly taking up to 10 months. The PCB has signed an MoU with Arif Habib Group, which provided the procurement cost of PKR 37 crore ( USD 2 million approx. ). The money will still be used for the development of pitches.
"It is Ramiz's vision and mission to improve the quality of the pitches at all international and domestic cricket venues," a PCB spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo.
"In this regard, we've hired an Australian expert on drop-in pitches as a consultant, who will tour Pakistan in April and visit all potential venues for a complete assessment and evaluation before suggesting next steps." PCB spokesman added.
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"As we don't have experts on drop-in pitches, we need to have feasibility about everything around it. There are several critical elements to the success of this initiative, including weather conditions, usage of the venues, soil requirements, and overall design and outlook of the venue."
PCB spokesman concluded.
The concept of drop-in pitches is new for Pakistan compared to New Zealand and Australia, where stadiums are used for multi-purpose, and every time a cricket match is to be played, a new drop-in pitch is installed in contrast to Pakistan, where stadiums are used for cricket only.
