Gaddafi Stadium
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Gaddafi Stadium ( ur, , translit=Qaẕẕāfī Isṭeḍiyam), previously known as Lahore Stadium is a
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
stadium in
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and the home ground of
Lahore Qalandars Lahore Qalandars ( ur, ; pnb, لہور قلندرز; abbreviated as LQ) is a Pakistani professional cricket franchise which plays in the Pakistan Super League, representing the city of Lahore. The home ground of the team is Gaddafi Stadium. ...
. It is owned by the
Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...
(PCB). With a capacity of 27,000, it is the fourth largest cricket stadium of Pakistan. Gaddafi Stadium was the first in Pakistan to be equipped with modern floodlights having their own standby power generators. The headquarters of the Pakistan Cricket Board are situated at Gaddafi Stadium, thus making it the home of the
Pakistan national cricket team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International C ...
. It was designed by Russian-born Pakistan architect and civil engineer
Nasreddin Murat-Khan Nasreddin Murat-Khan ِALA-LC: ; tr, Nasreddin Murat-han ; russian: Насреддин Муратханов ALA-LC: ; ur, ِALA-LC: (1904 – 15 October 1970) was a Russian-born Pakistani architect and civil engineer. He is renowned for ...
, and constructed by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company in 1959. The stadium was renovated for the
1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World Cu ...
when it hosted the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
. In addition to Pakistan home games and international matches, the Gaddafi Stadium has also hosted several matches of the
Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested during February and March of every year by six teams representing six cities of Pakistan. The league was founded on 9 September 2015 with five teams by the Paki ...
, with the first one being the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
of the 2017 edition. In March 2022, the PCB began the process to change the name of the Gaddafi Stadium to the name of a new sponsor for financial reasons.


History


Construction

The stadium was built in 1959 and was designed by architect and civil engineer Nasreddin Murat-Khan and construction was completed by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company. It was originally established as the Lahore Stadium.


Renaming stadium

In 1974, the ground was renamed in honour of the former Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
following a speech he gave at the 2nd
Organisation of the Islamic Conference An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived fro ...
meeting in Lahore in favour of Pakistan's right to pursue nuclear weapons. On 23 October 2011, Pakistan Cricket Board discussed renaming the stadium following the death of Gaddafi, to support the new government in Libya. The Punjab Olympic Association made a similar request in late October 2011 to the provincial chief minister. Association secretary Idrees Haider Khawaja said, "I don't think his profile is inspirational enough to link with our cricket stadium's identity." However, the stadium's name was not changed.


Redesigned

In 1995–96, the Gaddafi Stadium was renovated by architect
Nayyar Ali Dada Nayyar Ali Dada ( ur, نیر علی دادا) (born 11 November 1943) is a Pakistani architect.
, who was qualified from
National College of Arts The National College of Arts (colloquially known as NCA) is a public university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Overview National College of Arts - A Federal Chartered Institute is the oldest art school in Pakistan and the second oldest i ...
, for the 1996 Cricket World Cup. Dada's redesign was done with red, hand-laid brickwork and arches. Dada also had plastic seating installed in place of the existing concrete benches. The lower portion under the stands was enclosed and converted to shops for boutiques and offices. Gaddafi Stadium, being the largest cricket stadium in Pakistan, used to have capacity of 65,250 spectators, until the redesigning of its enclosures reduced the capacity to 27,000.


Cricket history


International cricket history

In both 1968 and 1977, Test matches played against England were affected by riots. In 1976 the first of three
hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...
was taken at the stadium, by
Peter Petherick Peter James Petherick (25 September 1942 – 7 June 2015) was a New Zealand cricketer who represented New Zealand in six Test cricket matches between October 1976 and March 1977 as an off-spinner. He is one of two New Zealand bowlers to achieve ...
of
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
against
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
on 9 October. The next was taken by
Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several criti ...
of Pakistan against
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, 6 March 1999, and the third by
Mohammad Sami Mohammad Sami ( ur, ; born 24 February 1981) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team between 2001 and 2016. Domestic career Sami joined the Indian Cricket League following the tour of India in Decemb ...
of Pakistan against Sri Lanka. Pakistan has enjoyed some memorable moments on the ground, including a fifth-wicket stand of 281 between
Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (Urdu: ; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (Urdu: ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo desc ...
and Asif Iqbal against
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in 1976 and an innings and 324 run win against New Zealand in 2002.


2009 Sri Lankan team attack

On 3 March 2009, the scheduled third day of second Test of 2008–09 Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan, the Sri Lankan team's convoy was attacked by armed militants at Liberty Roundabout, near Gaddafi Stadium. Eight Sri Lankan players were injured, including Sri Lankan captain,
Mahela Jayawardene Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene ( si, දෙනගමගේ ප්‍රබෝත් මහේල ද සිල්වා ජයවර්ධන; born 27 May 1977) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who is the current consultant coach ...
. The Sri Lankan team was air-lifted from Gaddafi Stadium to a nearby airbase, from where they were evacuated back to Sri Lanka. This event marked brought a halt to international cricket in Pakistan.


Return of international cricket

International cricket returned to Pakistan on 19 May 2015, when the
Zimbabwe cricket team The Zimbabwe national cricket team, also known as the Chevrons, represents Zimbabwe in men's international cricket and is overseen by Zimbabwe Cricket (formerly known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union). Zimbabwe has been a Full Member of the Int ...
landed at the
Allama Iqbal International Airport Allama Iqbal International Airport ( ur, , ) is the third largest civilian airport by traffic in Pakistan, after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and Islamabad International Airport. It serves Lahore, capital of Punjab and second-larges ...
to become the first Full Member nation to tour Pakistan since the attack. Pakistan won both ODI and T20I series comfortably. In August 2017, PCB along with ICC started to improve international cricket in Pakistan. With that, under heavy security, PCB planned World XI tour to Pakistan for three T20Is. In August 2017,
Thilanga Sumathipala Uduwatuwage Janath Priya Thilanga Sumathipala MP (born 3 May 1964) (known as Thilanga Sumathipala) is a Sri Lankan politician who was the former deputy speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka since 2015 and former President of Sri Lanka Cricket ...
, president of
Sri Lanka Cricket Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national spo ...
, said that he would like to play at least one of the three T20I matches in
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
, Pakistan during October. In March 2009, the Sri Lanka cricket team were attacked by terrorists while travelling to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Since then, the only Test side to visit Pakistan has been Zimbabwe, when they toured during May 2015. Two of Sri Lanka's current team,
Chamara Kapugedera Chamara Kantha Kapugedera ( si, චාමර කපුගෙදර, born 24 February 1987), commonly Chamara Kapugedera, is a former international Sri Lankan cricketer who played all formats of the game, and was a former One Day International ca ...
and
Suranga Lakmal Ranasinghe Arachchige Suranga Lakmal ( si, රණසිංහ ආරච්චිගේ සුරංග ලක්මාල්; born 10 March 1987) is a former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who played in all formats of the game and is a forme ...
were on the bus during the 2009 terrorist attack, and both could have been selected for the T20I squad for this series. In September 2017, the fixtures were confirmed, with the final T20I match of the series scheduled to be played in Lahore. Sri Lanka Cricket said that players have a "contractual obligation" to play the match in Lahore, but it was unlikely to issue penalties to any player who chose not to visit Pakistan. However, on 14 October 2017, the Sri Lankan team expressed their reluctance to travel to Pakistan, requesting that the fixture is moved to a neutral venue. On 16 October 2017, Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed that the fixture in Lahore would go ahead as planned, but their limited-overs captain,
Upul Tharanga Warushavithana Upul Tharanga (born 2 February 1985), commonly known as Upul Tharanga ( si, උපුල් තරංග), is a former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, and a former limited over captain who played for all formats of the game. He ...
, had pulled out of the match. Despite the concerns from the players, team manager
Asanka Gurusinha Deshabandu Asanka Pradeep Gurusinha (born 16 September 1966) is a Sri Lankan Australian former international cricketer who had an 11-year international career, playing 41 Tests and 147 One Day Internationals for Sri Lanka. He was a key member fo ...
felt that a competitive squad would be named. On 19 October 2017, Sri Lanka's chief selector, Graham Labrooy, said that players who do not travel to Lahore would be unlikely to be selected for the other two T20I fixtures. The squad for the T20I fixtures was named two days later, with
Thisara Perera Narangoda Liyanaarachchige Thisara Chirantha Perera ( si, තිසර පෙරේරා; born 3 April 1989), popularly as Thisara Perera, is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer who played all formats for the national team. He also cap ...
selected as
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
. The Sri Lankan squad arrived in Lahore under "extraordinary" security and made their way to the team's hotel in a bomb-proof bus. Ahead of the T20I in Lahore, Cricket Sri Lanka's president Thilanga Sumathipala said that the team was privileged to be in Pakistan and that he would help support the country in hosting more tours.
Najam Sethi Najam Aziz Sethi (Urdu, pa, ; born 20 May 1948) is a Pakistani journalist, businessman and cricket administrator, currently serving as the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He also is the founder of ''The Friday Times'' and ''Vangua ...
, chairman of the PCB, said that this fixture would be the start of international cricket returning to the country, with him expecting every country to play in Pakistan by the end of 2020. Pakistan went on to win the T20I series 3–0. A T20I match scheduled to be played against Bangladesh on 27 January 2020 at the Gaddafi stadium was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to heavy rain. The venue also hosted three main matches as a part of the 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup.


Domestic cricket history

On 5 March 2017, the final of the
2017 Pakistan Super League The 2017 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 2 or, for sponsorship reasons, HBL PSL 2017), was the second season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2016. On ...
was played in the stadium, the first time a PSL fixture was being played in Pakistan. After the success of holding the final, the Pakistan Cricket Board decided to play two games of the 2018 Pakistan Super League in Pakistan. In September 2019, the Pakistan Cricket Board named it as one of the venues to host matches in the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.


Records


Test

* Highest team total: 699/5, by
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
against
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 1989. * Lowest team total: 73, by
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
against
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
in 2002. * Highest individual score: 329, by
Inzamam-ul-Haq Inzamam-ul-Haq SI ( ur, ; born 3 March 1970), also known as Inzi, is a former Pakistan cricketer and captain of Pakistan national cricket team. He was also professional cricket coach for Pakistan. He was the leading run scorer for Pakistan i ...
against
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in 2002.


One Day International

* Highest team total: 375/3, by
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
against
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
, 26 May 2015. * Lowest team total: 75, by
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
against
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, 22 January 2009. * Highest individual score: 139*, by Ijaz Ahmed against
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, 2 October 1997.


T20 International

* Highest team total: 209/3, by
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
against
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, 2 October 2022. * Lowest team total: 101, by
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
against
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, 5 October 2019. * Highest individual score: 104*, by Mohammad Rizwan against
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, 11 February 2021.


Cricket World Cup

This stadium hosted six One Day International (ODI) matches during
1987 Cricket World Cup The 1987 Cricket World Cup (officially known as the Reliance Cup 1987 for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth Cricket World Cup. It was held from 8 October to 8 November 1987 in India and Pakistan – the first such tournament to be held outsid ...
and
1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World Cu ...
, including the final between
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.


1987 Cricket World Cup


1996 Cricket World Cup


See also

* 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team *
List of Test cricket grounds One hundred and twenty-one grounds have hosted Test cricket since the first officially recognised Test match between Australia and England in Melbourne in March 1877. The grounds are listed in the order in which they were first used as a venue f ...
*
List of international cricket centuries at Gaddafi Stadium Gaddafi Stadium hosted 40 Test cricket, Test matches, the first of these was in 1959 when Pakistan cricket team, Pakistan played the touring Australia cricket team, Australian side. The ground has also hosted 60 One Day Internationals (ODIs), the f ...
* List of international five-wicket hauls at Gaddafi Stadium *
List of stadiums in Pakistan This is a list of major sport stadiums in Pakistan. Current grounds File:Gaddafi stadium lahore.jpg, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore File:National Stadium Karachi.jpg, National Stadium, Karachi File:RWPCS3.jpg, Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium See also * L ...
*
List of sports venues in Lahore {{Short description, none This is a list of sports venues in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Cricket International Stadium *Gaddafi Stadium * Bagh-e-Jinnah Cricket Ground Domestic/First Class Cricket Grounds * Punjab University Cricket Ground * ...
*
List of cricket grounds by capacity The following is a list of cricket grounds, ordered by capacity, . Currently, all grounds with a capacity of 15,000 or more which are the home venue of a club or national team are included. Some grounds with a capacity of more than 10,000 are als ...


References


External links


Cricinfo.com ground profileGoogle Maps satellite photo of Gaddafi Stadium
{{Lahore Qalandars Test cricket grounds in Pakistan Cricket in Lahore Muammar Gaddafi Tourist attractions in Lahore Stadiums in Pakistan Cricket grounds in Pakistan 1959 establishments in Pakistan Nasreddin Murat-Khan buildings and structures Nayyar Ali Dada buildings and structures 1996 Cricket World Cup stadiums Libya–Pakistan relations 1987 Cricket World Cup stadiums