Pitches for Twenty20 matches at Karachi

A total of three pitches have been made ready at the National Stadium to host a long series of Twenty20 matches of Pakistan cricket team which is due to arrive here July 26 on their last leg of preparation for the Twenty20 World Cup in September in South Africa.
The groundsman at the National Stadium Ahsan Arain, when contacted here Tuesday, said that he had prepared three pitches for the limited overs match series. The series is being held to assess the players before announcing Pakistan team for the Twenty20 World Cup.
The number of matches to be played here has not been decided yet. By some account there would be five matches but some suggest Pakistan team would play a match every day of its 11-day stay here.
He said he had prepared centre pitches and the two pitches flanking the main pitch. The square, he said, was constantly being watered and rolled. All the three pitches would be batting stripes, he said.
He also disclosed that he had visited NBP cricket ground to inspect the pitch which is being prepared for hosting a three-day match against South Africa which will arrive here September 26. The three-day game will be a warm-up contest for the visitors who play first Test against the host here in the city starting October 1 at the NSK.
The National Bank cricket ground for the last three to four years has hosted a number of long duration first class matches of domestic season but the coming three-day contest is the first when a top class foreign cricket team will play at the ground which has limited seating capacity.
However, the ground from the security point of view is good as it is enclosed by a high cemented wall and had only two entry points. As the playing arena is located in posh Clifton locality, big rush of spectators is expected to watch South Africans in action on the soil.
South Africa would be the second national team of a country to play in Defence/Clifton neighbourhood. Many years ago the then BCCP hosted a Test match against Zimbabwe at the Defence cricket ground. Waqar Younis led Pakistan in the match which ended in a draw.
In the meantime, the coaching for 30 selected under-19 cricketers from inter-regional championship, held some time ago in the country, entered its second week here at the NSK.
The Pakistan Cricket Board is organising similar kind of regional camps at 10 other centres.
At Karachi former medium pacer Jalaluddin is supervising the camp with the assistance of Saghir Abbas and a physical trainer.

wasnt a draw, waqar took like 10+ wicketsx and won his first game s captain...didnt he??


can some post recent pics of this ground?

Yep ur right, Pakistan did win the match, by a margin of 131 runs.
I cant find any pictures of the ground, but here's some info:
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/pak...ound/58950.html

I was at that match and I remember taking a picture with Inzi! The reception that Javed got was unbelievable! I used to train at that ground at the time. Damn that was a long time ago!


Btw the defence stadium has now been converted into a club with indoor nets, an ice-skating rink, bowling alley, tennis, squash, and badminton courts, swimming pool, basketball court, the works!

The main ground remains, however, and they've tried to increase the capacity in the hopes of making it an international venue. I don't see that happening as theres still no where to park as the stadium is right in the center of a residential neighborhood!

Amazing that the NBP ground will host an international team! It's a smallish ground on which I've played a countless number of times. I've even hit a century there, 105 not out to be exact, opening in a 30 over game. Very flat pitch and the ball keeps very low. Theres seating for about 200 and the ground is right opposite the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Mazaar!

Right outside the ground you'll see hundreds of homeless, heroin addicts who lie on the sidewalks. Its an unfortunate sight and often times I would stop and give those who were awake some food and drink. Its an amazingly alarming sight when you have heroin addicts shooting up right under the noses of cops who don't seem to give a damn. The cops are just looking for a way to make some cash and couldn't care less. I'm digressing now and will stop...

and how much will they pull in the boundries if they want to see more runs?

Amazing when you think about it, to see two complete opposites, two complete bitter-sweet moments happening at the same time. One instance where you see many people (mostly upper-class), enjoying the cricket, with their cups of tea in the upgraded facilities, whilst just a stones throw away there are, as you say, many homeless miserable drug addicts.
Maybe we should think about sorting these little problems out before we start to upgrade facilities, to make a small part of Karachi look like mid-town Sydney. I mean apart from the obvious problem of homelessness and drug addiction, another thing we must think about is that what kind of a message does it send out to touring teams, that we let this happen (without doing at least a little to help), whilst we act like butlers to touring teams, waiting on the hand and foot. Things must change!! But the again this isn’t gonna make any difference is it?

well the match is in "in posh Clifton locality". is it really true homeless will be laying around on sidewalks in a rich area?

its cricket so leave it to cricket


its not our fault we didn't say them to start taking drugs and get addicted etc blah blah blah

its all none sense

we should never ever help them out or they will become dependent

let them starve and struggle then they will have to do some hard work and take up the tough life

if we help them they will attact more ppl like that

That's a disgusting approach. Absolutely deplorable. You should be ashamed of yourself. Do you know anything about heroin addiction? It's easy sitting in canada and posting filth like that but come to karachi and see what it's like close up. I've lost some close friends to addiction and something needs to be done to help. I try to do my part and will continue to do so.

i know everything i have been there couple of times in my life and its not like some one forced them to get addicted to drugs

they themselves got addicted to it no one asked them to do so and if you think you are helping them then i am sorry its not helping its like you are making them dependent on you and not try to cut it off......leave them when they will struggle and understands the hard work then they will try to stop taking drugs and be a good citizen.......

here i see may ppl addicted to drugs too but rarely i see them begging infront of someone they have thier self respect and its better for them to do some work and earn thier money so they can not just sit around with food and money and say
"well well ,why do i need to work when ppl are giving me money and food"thats what ppl in karachi addicted to drugs think

you have to change it

Back to the topic on the pitches for 20/20 it is nice to see that they are making pitches that will suite the batsmen. Perfect way to prepare for SA where pitches are bouncy and usually fast. No surprise our batsman fail there if they keep getting these batting pradise to please some who think the score it too low.
Why not try to emulate SA 20/20 conditions... make bouncy fast pitches to the best extent possible in Karachi but also pull in the boundary to give batsmen some advantage too. Sometimes you feel PCB is run by buffoon(s) ...

You know everything because you have been there a couple of times in your life? Right.


So you're saying that if someone has an addiction you should let them deal with it themselves and just turn a blind eye?

That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard. So if a family member of yours is an addict, you just let them die? Let them struggle and destroy their lives? Don't support them and let them disintegrate into madness?

If you want to do that then fine, go ahead, turn a blind eye. I try to be there for those who have no support, and that includes my own friends and family, as well as the average Pakistani on the road.

youre perfectly right sheikh