KP cabinet approves renaming Peshwar’s cricket stadium after Imran Khan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet on Friday approved renaming Peshawar’s Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium to Imran Khan Cricket Stadium. 

The KP government had decided earlier to rename the stadium after the PTI founder to honour the former prime minister’s pivotal role in shaping the nation’s sports landscape. 

KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur signed a summary of the sports department a day ago, proposing the renaming of the stadium. The summary said that CM Gandapur had desired the renaming of the stadium located in Shahi Bagh, Peshawar, as Imran Khan Cricket Stadium. 

The provincial government approved renaming the stadium in today’s KP cabinet session, according to a statement issued by the provincial information department. 

Sports minister Syed Fakhar Jahan said the renaming of the stadium was beyond politics as Imran was the biggest name in the country’s sporting history. The stadium was named after Arbab Niaz, a former federal minister for sports, journalist Amjad Aziz Malik said. He said that Niaz was the father of Arbab Shahzad, former KP chief secretary in the Pervez Khattak government and adviser to the prime minister on establishment in the Imran Khan government.