KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi on Wednesday said that the board was looking to get Karachi’s National Stadium ready in time for the third season of Pakistan Super League. “The best-case scenario is that four PSL matches will be held in Karachi and three will be held in Lahore,” he said in a press briefing here. “However, the worst-case scenario is that one match will be held in Karachi. It depends on the security situation.” He said International Cricket Council (ICC) personnel wouldbe arriving in Karachi in four days time to oversee the plan for hosting some PSL matches in the metropolis. “The stadium will be renovated in two phases. We are looking to complete the first phase in the next four months, in time for PSL 3. The long-term plan, which will take a-year-and-a-half and will cost around Rs1.5 billion,” Sethi added. “Our bigger concern at this moment is to make sure the stadium is ready in time for PSL3. That needs to happen so that we can start convincing players to come to Karachi for a few matches. I have met Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and discussed Karachi’s security situation with him. We are working on a plan.” He said work had been completed on Karachi’s Centre for Excellence of Cricket and it will be made functional as soon as possible. “Mudassir Nazar and I interviewed three candidates to head the centre and a decision will be made soon,” he announced. Sethi added: “I admit that this centre is more important than the one in Lahore and I believe the creation of it has already been delayed by 10 years.” The players’ draft for PSL will be held on November 10, in Lahore, whereas the 2018 edition of the tournament will be played in February next year. IG Sindh orders audit of National Stadium security: Inspector General of Police (IG) AD Khowaja met with PCB’s Security In-charge, retired colonel Azam Khan, in relation to the PCB’s plans for PSL fixtures in Karachi and subsequently issued orders for a security audit of the National Stadium. During the meeting, which was held at the Central Police Office, security arrangements for the matches to be played in Karachi during PSL were discussed. Additional Inspector General (AIG) Mushtaq Ahmed Mahir, Special Branch AIG Dr Waliullah Dil, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) headquarters, the DIGs East and South, the senior superintendent of police security’s special branch, and the inspector general operations were in attendance at the meeting. IG Khowaja nominated the DIG East as the focal person for all security matters related to the Karachi matches ad advised him to conduct a security audit of the National Stadium in coordination with the Additional IG of the Special Branch. Khowaja also asked the DIG to file a report of the audit so that fool-proof security plans could be devised. Published in Daily Times, October 19th 2017.