Stadium Overview
The National Stadium is a cricket stadium which is located in Karachi, Pakistan, and owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is the home ground of the Karachi Kings and several other domestic cricket teams of Karachi. It is the one and only largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a capacity of 40,000 spectators.
History of the National Cricket Stadium, Karachi
The National Cricket Stadium, Karachi was established in April 1955. At that time, Karachi was the capital of Pakistan, but the only cricket ground was the Karachi Gymkhana which had limited seating capacity. A plan was drawn up to develop a new stadium for which a plot of land measuring 174.5 acres was acquired by the Pakistan Public Works Department through the Commissioner of Karachi. After which the stadium was built under the guidance of Mr. Kafiluddin Ahmed, a senior civil engineer from East Pakistan, which became Karachi’s fifth and Pakistan’s 11th first-class ground.
The inaugural first-class match was played at the NSK on 20–24 April 1955 between Pakistan and India, and it became a bastion of Pakistan cricket. In the 34 Test matches between that first match and December 2000, Pakistan won 17 and never lost. Their only Test defeat at the ground came in a disappointment against England in 2000–01.
The first ODI at the National Cricket Stadium, Karachi was against the West Indies on 21 November 1980, and it went down to the last ball as Gordon Greenidge edged Imran Khan to the cover boundary with three needed. It has been the site of very few successful limited overs matches, with losses outnumbering wins. In fact, in less than five years from its 1996 debut, Pakistan failed to win on the ground. It also hosted a quarter-final match in the 1996–97 World Cup.
Sachin Tendulkar and Waqar Younis played their first Test matches in this stadium. To host matches in the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the Pakistan Cricket Board named it as one of the venues in September 2019.
Also Read: Sawai Mansingh Stadium & History and features
Facts about the National Stadium, Karachi
The National Cricket Stadium Karachi is the only ground where the Sri Lankan cricket team has never been successful in defeating Pakistan.
Javed Miandad is the only player to have scored more than 1000 runs at this ground, which makes him the top scorer at this ground.
Younis Khan is the only player to score a triple century in this region.
Two legends of cricket, Waqar Younis and Sachin Tendulkar made their Test match debuts at this ground.
It is the first and last stadium to host a match for a US President, and President Eisenhower.
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