The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has earmarked Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as venues for next year’s ICC Champions Trophy.

The Champions Trophy, which was last held in England in 2017, is expected to be held tentatively in February-March next year.

“We’ve sent the schedule for the matches in Pakistan for the Champions Trophy,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said at a press conference in Lahore. The ICC’s security team came and we had a very good meeting. They looked at arrangements here and we’ll also share stadium upgrade plans with them.

“We are trying to ensure we host a very good tournament in Pakistan,” Naqvi informed.

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The PCB has been steadfast in insisting that the tournament will not be altered in any way to accommodate India.

Naqvi also conceded that condition of all three proposed venues is currently sub-standard in terms of hosting international games of cricket.

“If you look at Gaddafi [Stadium] (here), it is good but the viewing experience is not great for cricket. Football maybe, not cricket,” Naqvi said.

“We need to improve facilities in the stadiums, where there are some old problems. Karachi is in bad shape. So on May 7, we will finalise bids from international companies who will come and help us design.

“We are already late but we need to do these upgrades in four-five months. It will be a very tough test but we can do it,” Naqvi concluded.