The ground was constructed as Arbab Niaz Stadium in November 1984, named after federal minister for sports Arbab Niaz. 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.
Final international 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. This stadium was one of those venues where international 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 Cricket 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 Cricket 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 Cricket 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.
Renovation efforts and name change 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 34,000+ (up from 14,000), floodlights, a new electronic scoreboard, and better facilities for players modeled on
Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The government initiated the renovations in 2018 with a completion date of 18 October 2021, through a contract worth Rs1.4 billion. The renovations were not completed in time, and in December 2022, a government official reported the new completion date as being in June 2023, subject to funding, and the total cost of the project had grown to Rs2 billion. A 2022, report from the Planning and Development Department found irregularities in the project and said that the contractor was unqualified to complete the work. Stadium's renovations became a point of conflict between the PCB and local administration. In 2022,
Peshawar Zalmi owner
Javed Afridi claimed that the stadium's renovations would be complete in time to host Peshawar's matches in the
2023 Pakistan Super League. However, security forces did not declare the venue suitable for international cricket, and PCB chairman
Ramiz Raja stated that the stadium would not be a high enough standard to host
PSL matches. In February 2025, the stadium was decided to be renamed to Imran Khan Stadium after
Imran Khan, a former
Pakistan cricket captain and
Prime Minister. Despite several controversies and opposition, it was officially renamed in April 2025. In June 2025, an exhibition match between KP Zalmi and KP Panthers was played. ==Stats and records==