The 2-match Test series between Pakistan and Bangladesh is scheduled to start on August 21. The first Test between the two teams will be held in Rawalpindi, while the second Test is to be played at the National Stadium in Karachi.

But now the PCB has issued an order that this match will be played in an empty stadium. The reason given by the PCB behind this is that renovation work is going on to improve the venue in view of the 2025 Champions Trophy.

However, former Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal has criticised the PCB’s decision to hold the second Test against Bangladesh in Karachi without spectators and called it a “fair use” “International embarrassment” The former wicketkeeper-batsman said that the board could have organized the match in some other stadium as Pakistan has many options.

Kamran Akmal said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel

“The second Test match will be played in Karachi. So I think you know that renovation work is going on in Karachi. They are preparing a stadium for the Champions Trophy. So it will be a joke on Pakistan that Test matches are being played in Pakistan without spectators. And we don’t just have 2-3 stadiums; we also have the Faisalabad stadium. We could have played there as well; it is a top-class stadium. A lot of cricket has happened there.”

He further said, “There is a stadium in Multan. And you know that Multan Stadium is very good and the crowd also comes there. So you know that this is your stadium; you could have organized another Test match at any one of these two places. So it would have been good. So I think this would be a mockery of our cricket at the international level. Such things should not happen.”