Rachin Ravindra was severely injured during Pakistan vs New Zealand match.© AFP
Pakistan Cricket Board, who are the hosts of the Champions Trophy 2025, was at the receiving end of some unfiltered bashing after New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra was injured while fielding in a Tri-series match against Pakistan at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. The venue is among three which will host Champions Trophy matches just over a week from now. Ravindra was git on the face while going for a catch, but was instead hit on his face leaving him blooded. He had to be taken off the field immediately dur to the severity of the injury. Some big names in Pakistan’s cricket opined that the newly installed LED lights may have caused visibility issues for the cricketer.
Rachin Ravindra suffered lacerations on his forehead and received stitches, New Zealand cricket said in a press release.
Pakistan star Ahmad Shehzad came down heavily on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and said the three stadiums in Pakistan aren’t ready properly.
“The way Rachin was hit on the face, this is a concerning part. The player safety is of utmost importance. Is this how you spend a budget of 13 arab PKR? It takes 2 arab to construct a new stadium. Three stadiums aren’t even ready yet. From the outside, everything looks good and glittery. The ones that are ready, were built in record time. But there are certain things such as this floodlight issues, the fact that the Karachi Stadium isn’t ready yet. There are problems in the infrastructure of the Rawalpindi Stadium, which will now apparently take 6-8 more months to be resolved. The Gaddafi Stadium looks good but the lights look dicey,” Ahmad Shehzad was quoted as saying by HT.
However, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said that criticising the floodlights was not justified. Instead, he questioned Rachin Ravindra.
“There’s no point trying to make people understand when they don’t want to. It’s irrelevant. These are some of the latest LED lights that have been installed, so these are fine. When New Zealand players hit sixes off deliveries bowled at close to 150 kph, were the lights not working then? A player who was standing 70 meters away failed to take the catch because of his misjudgment. He is a fine fielder, but perhaps his leg slipped, and he got hurt,” Butt said on a local news channel.
The Champions Trophy 2025 starts February 19 with a match between Pakistan and New Zealand.
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