Champions Trophy: Dubai, cricket’s popular stand-by venue, steps in again

The arrival of Rohit Sharma & Co in Dubai for the ICC Champions Trophy on Saturday may not cause a flutter in the city – but news of the 23 February game between India and Pakistan being a sellout must be like music to the ears of the world governing body of the game.

 A maximum of five matches (including the final on 9 March if India makes it) of the tournament, which has had a rather chequered history, are on the cards to be held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium – underlining the UAE’s role as a readymade solution to play hosts all over again. The stakeholders – primarily the ICC, Indian and Pakistan boards had been locked in a never-ending impasse over the tournament till the hybrid model was agreed upon on the understanding that neither India or Pakistan will be playing on each other’s soil for next three years.

 It often passes under the radar as to how many times the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) has answered to the call of stepping in as hosts of major events in the new millennium – keeping aside the fact that Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi had acted as the ‘home’ venues for Pakistan for nearly a decade when international teams refused to tour the country after the 2009 terror attack.

Less than six months back, Dubai and Sharjah played hosts to the ICC Women’s World Cup in October due to the volatile political situation in Bangladesh – the original hosts. In 2021, the UAE created history by becoming the first associate member country to host the Men’s T20 World Cup when the event was shifted from India due to Covid pandemic. During the first wave of Covid in 2020, they hosted the full IPL behind closed doors while the second phase of IPL had to be again relocated to the Gulf country next year again.

 Add to this are the Asia Cups in 2018 and 2022 – when the UAE had been the preferred destination primarily to facilitate the India-Pakistan maquee game on a neutral venue. The price tag of tickets don’t really matter when it comes to this particular contest -  as the cheapest India-Pakistan tickets for the ICC Champions Trophy has been priced at $ 136 while the most expensive cost more than $ 1300.

 However, tickets are still available for India’s opener against Bangladesh on February 20 for which general admission tickets at $68 are still up for grabs, alongwith the hospitality tickets at around $550. India’s third and final group match is against New Zealand on 2 March in Dubai, followed by the first semi-final there on 4 March.

Reflecting on UAE’s growth as the biggest alternative venue to host major events, Shyam Bhatia – a Dubai-based industrialist and noted cricket enthusiast feels time has come for the ICC to consider awarding events like a World T20 to the UAE in a regular cycle occasionally. Speaking to National Herald, Bhatia says: ‘’It’s true that the UAE is not a ICC full member yet, but I think in view of the reputation it has built and the logistical advantages that the country enjoys, the ICC should consider giving shorter events like a T20 World Cup to the UAE occasionally.’’   

 Mazhar Khan, one of their seniormost cricket administrators feel of the UAE feels that hosting such events have now become par for the course . ‘’As of date, there is no surprise element in the UAE’s abilities to manage the requests – thanks to the three venues, excellent flight connectivity and hospitality. The women’s World Cup, for example, was shifted here at the eleventh hour and everything went off seamlessly,’’ remarked Mazhar Khan, General Manger of Sharjah Cricket and a former administrator of the Emirates Cricket Board.