KARACHI: Renovation work at Karachi’s National Stadium has entered its final phase as preparations accelerate for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 scheduled for February.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has also announced Thursday that two enclosures at the stadium will be renamed in honour of cricket legends from the city, Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan. The upgrade includes the construction of a new far-end building, where the players’ area has been completed, and finishing touches, such as cleaning and partitioning, are underway on the upper floors. The PCB, on Thursday, arranged a visit for media to the stadium to witness the progress. National Stadium Karachi General Manager Arshad Khan confirmed that two VIP enclosures, with a collective seating capacity of 1,050, are being prepared at the ground level of new far-end building and they will be named after former players Majid Khan and Zaheer Abbas. Additionally, the existing Majid Khan and Zaheer Abbas enclosures will be renamed after Younis Khan and Nazar Mohammad, respectively. The Quaid Enclosure will now be named the Shahid Afridi Enclosure. “The new stadium layout also aligns the Hanif Mohammad and Javed Miandad enclosures with the Far-End Building, as traditionally the VIP enclosures are next to the players area, while the enclosures adjacent to the older building will be renamed Iqbal Qasim and Naseem-ul-Ghani enclosures,” said Arshad.