In recent years, it has been necessary to make apologies for poor attendances at what are purported to be box-office cricket matches in the UAE.
Poor scheduling, when major international matches clashed with the office hours of the country’s workforce, has made for miserably empty stands. All the signs suggested that matches in the UAE between neutral teams had no future.
Sunday at Sharjah Cricket Stadium gave the lie to that theory.
A day of cricket that coincided with the first day of the work week was sold out in advance. Cricket involving Indian sides in this country has a rich future, indeed.
“I took the day off school and flew here from Doha this morning,” said Vainu Ananth, 17, a Chennai Super Kings supporter who was wearing a multi-coloured wig and had his face painted yellow.
“They think I’m here for an interview. I landed in Sharjah at 11am and I’m flying straight back after the game, but I had to be here.
“I love MS Dhoni and I watch every India game and every IPL game.”
At the start of the 2.30pm game between the Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils, the stadium was around about half full.
The Qasim Noorani Stand – the benches nearest to the northern entry point of the ground – was almost entirely packed, while the premium tickets in the grandstand at the southern end were next-best populated.
People obviously still have their lives to lead. Harbhajan Singh’s six into the road in the final over of the Mumbai innings, for example, brought a yellow school bus shuddering to a halt as it braked to avoid the ball.
It was 4pm, and not everybody had been able to wag school to see the first innings.
The early fixture here was arranged between the franchises belonging to the two biggest cities, Mumbai and Delhi, to satisfy Sunday afternoon television scheduling back in India.
By the time second game started between the Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, it was packed to the rafters.
“It is really amazing and we would like to thank all the fans for coming here,” said Mazhar Khan, the Sharjah Cricket Board administrator. “Sharjah has always been a place of records and I think this is another record, selling out on a work day.”
It is too simplistic to say the tickets have been priced at knock-down rates to ensure this leg of the IPL in exile has been watched by packed stadiums.
When England played before sparse crowds here against Pakistan in early 2012, attendance was free. Cricket was said to be the sport that could not give itself away.
That said, the authorities have priced admission for these IPL matches fairly. For example, the Dh40 fee for the cheap seats for yesterday’s double-header is less than half the price of the least-costly tickets for a single match in Mumbai.
Tickets sold out a week ago for tonight’s game between the high-flying sides Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai.
The same has also happened for Wednesday’s final fixture in the city, meaning all 125,000 tickets for IPL matches at the Dubai International Stadium were sold.
“As the biggest cricket venue in the UAE, with a capacity of 25,000, having all five of our match days as sell-outs is incredible,” said Maqbul Dudhia, Dubai Sports City’s general manager for sports business.
pradley@thenational.ae
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