Dubai
Dubai, the International Cricket Council headquarters, will be the cynosure of more than a billion people over the next two months as it co-hosts along with Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, the Indian Premier League, and the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup.
The Indian Premier League, the globe’s richest cricket tournament and one of the most-watched sporting events in the world, is currently taking place across three venues in the UAE.
This follows the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision to conduct the remainder of their marquee tournament’s 14th season in the UAE after concerns over the COVID-19 situation in India forced the suspension of the tournament in May with 31 of the season’s 60 matches still to be played.
The BCCI also decided to host the 16-team ICC Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman. Dubai will host the final of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup on November 14, after a total of 45 matches, with 12 of them being played in Dubai.
The IPL 2021 final will also take place in Dubai, on October 15, and it will host 13 of the tournament’s 31 matches.
Most of cricket’s one billion plus fans from around the world will, however, be waiting for day two of the ICC Twenty20 World cup when traditional rivals India and Pakistan renew their colourful cricketing rivalry here in Dubai on Sunday, October 24, in the most popular format of the sport.
According to a survey conducted by the ICC, Twenty20 cricket, which is the shortest format of cricket after Tests (five days) and one-day Internationals (50 overs each side), is favoured by 92 per cent of cricket fans.
India vs Pakistan is one of the most intense and enduring rivalries in sports, and with 90 per cent of cricket’s billion-plus fans coming from South Asia, the match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 24 will be the biggest talking point of the tournament.—KT
