LAHORE:The Punjab government, in a significant stride towards fostering cricket talent, has officially handed over two world class High Performance Centres (HPCs) located in Sialkot and Faisalabad to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
In this connection, an MoU signing ceremony was held at National Hockey Stadium where DG Youth Affairs Punjab Dr Asif Tufail and PCB COO Salman Naseer signed the MoU documents. Punjab Cabinet, in this regard, also gave an approval in a cabinet meeting on Feb 18, 2024.
Deputy Secretary Liaqat Ali, Project Director PMU Qaiser Raza, PCB’s Director of Domestic Cricket Nadeem Khan, Senior General Manager Domestic Junaid Zia, Director Khayam Qaiser, General Manager Gaddafi Stadium Ali Bokhari, General Manager Legal Ms Maham and Chief Selector Wahab Riaz were also present on this occasion.
State-of-the-art Sialkot High Performance Cricket Centre was built at an area of 55 kanal with the cost of Rs 1141 million while the Faisalabad High Performance Cricket Centre was constructed at an area of 17.86 kanal with an amount of Rs 1065 million. The construction of Sialkot and Faisalabad High Performance Cricket Centres was completed in a period of two and half years. Both the centres have been equipped with all modern facilities including bowling, batting hall with synthetic floor, training hall, swimming pool, dining room and practice pitches etc.
This development signifies a strategic approach by the PCB and Punjab govt to decentralise cricket development, ensuring that talent is nurtured across various regions, ultimately contributing to the overall growth and competitiveness of cricket in Pakistan.
Emphasising inclusivity, these High Performance Centres are open to players of all ages and genders. With the addition of these two centres, the PCB's High-Performance Centre count now stands at five.