Asia Cup 2023 Venues

The Gaddafi Cricket Stadium is located in the historical city of Lahore. Designed by the eminent architect Nayyar Ali Dada, Gaddafi Stadium is inspired by Mughal architecture as is evident from the lovely brickwork that gives the stadium a unique look. The stadium is named after Colonel Gaddafi of Libya. Gaddafi Stadium hosted its first test match as early as in 1959, when Pakistan played against the touring Australians. It underwent renovations in order to host the 1996 World Cup final. It is the largest ground in Pakistan. In the new stadium the concrete benches are entirely replaced by plastic cover seats. The stadium holds the capacity of more than 60000 people. The 1996 Cricket World Cup was hosted by the Gaddaffi Stadium which was played between Australia and Sri Lanka. The ground was initially named the Lahore Stadium but was later on renamed to Gaddafi in 1974. The ground has been a good hunting ground for Pakistan and has some memorable milestones to its name. The Gaddafi stadium witnessed the record fifth-wicket stand of 281 between Javed Miandad and Asif Iqbal against New Zealand in 1976. Inzamam's famous triple-ton also came at this very stadium and that too against the Kiwis. But in recent times, the stadium is criticised for having sparse crowds for one-days and Test matches.

The Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan is one of the biggest and most famous cricket grounds of Pakistan. It is yet another multi-use stadium in Pakistan. It is used for cricket as well as football. The stadium is one of the bigger grounds in Pakistan and can seat around 30,000 spectators at a time. It has good facilities for the players, and the outfield is lush green giving the ground a very picturesque look. The Multan Cricket stadium has lush green outfield and is probably the most beautifully ground in Pakistan. Flood lights were recently installed at this venue. The ground is owned by the Pakistan Cricket Boards and was opened in 2001. The ground is a replacement to the old Qasim Bagh Stadium located in the heart of Multan city. It hosted its first Test match in 2001. The Test saw Pakistan beat Bangladesh by an innings and 264 runs. The stadium has regularly been hosting Tests after that. The stadium is also a very popular ODI venue and hosted ODIs since 2003. The first one day match played at the stadium was between Pakistan and Bangladesh, a match which Pakistan easily won.

Named after former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo was built on swamplands adjacent to the Khettarama Temple. The biggest cricket stadium in Sri Lanka till date, the ‘Khettarama Stadium’, as it was referred to previously, is only one of three Sri Lankan venues to have hosted World Cup matches. In the record books for Sri Lanka’s 952 for 6 against India in a Test match – the highest total in Test match history, the Premadasa Stadium has in the recent past not been hosting Test matches, but is still considered one of the best venues in Sri Lanka.

With a capacity of 35,000 the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy was established in the year 2009. One of the newest stadiums in Sri Lanka, this ground was specially built to replace the Asgiriya Stadium which hosted Test matches from 1983 to 2007.

Pallekele hosted its first Test in 2010, played between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, following which ODIs were hosted from the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. Along with being the home ground for the Sri Lankan national side, it also hosts the Kandurata domestic team. The stadium is also one of the grounds to host matches from the 2012 ICC World Twenty20.

It was at this very venue that Sri Lanka’s Suranga Lakmal joined the likes of Kapil Dev and Imran Khan in becoming the third bowler to take a Test wicket off the first ball at a new venue.