Arbab Niaz Stadium

Cricket Stadium in Peshawar, Pakistan

Arbab Niaz Stadium (Pashto: ارباب نياﺯ سټيډيم), formerly known as Shahi Bagh Stadium (Pashto: شاهي باغ سټيډيم), is a cricket stadium in Peshawar, Pakistan. It is owned by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cricket Association (KPCA).

Arbab Niaz Stadium was constructed in November 1984. In 1985 it replaced the Peshawar Club Ground which had been the home ground for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cricket team since 1938. In 1986 the stadium replaced the Peshawar Club Ground for the Peshawar cricket team which had also been using the same venue as a home ground since 1956. The stadium hosted international cricket between 1984 and 2006, including 15 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 6 Test matches.

Due to terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including the 2002 Karachi bus bombing and the 2002 US consulate bombing in Karachi, international cricket teams refused to tour parts of Pakistan. Arbab Niaz Stadium was one of the stadiums teams did not want to play at, because of Peshawar's proximity to the war in Afghanistan. In 2003, the South African national cricket team toured Pakistan. Arbab Niaz Stadium was scheduled to host the 3rd match of a Test series between Pakistan and South Africa, but ahead of the tour, the Union Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB) requested that this match be moved due to security concerns. Between the beginning of the war on terror in 2001 and the end of 2005, Arbab Niaz Stadium only hosted three Pakistan matches: a Test match against Bangladesh in 2003, and two ODIs against India and Zimbabwe in 2004. The last international match to be played at Arbab Niaz Stadium was against India in February 2006. An Indian delegation met with local law enforcement in Peshawar in December 2005 and decided that the security measures were adequate for India and Pakistan to play an ODI against each other in the city. During the match a large number of spectators barged onto the field, which led Chris Broad (the ICC match referee) to express unhappiness at the lack of security measures in place. The ICC's other objections to the stadium included its lack of floodlights and the poor quality of the dressing rooms and training facilities provided for playing teams.

The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa decided to upgrade the stadium in 2017 to help bring international cricket back to the city. The renovations were to include an increased capacity of 35,000 (up from 14,000), floodlights, a new electronic scoreboard, and better facilities for players modeled on Dubai International Cricket Stadium.