Sharjah re-emerges on the cricket horizon

Record-making venue ready to host Pakistan, Sri Lanka today.

SHARJAH:

Fondly remembered as the ‘oasis of cricket’, the Sharjah stadium will resurface on the cricket horizon with the staging of the third and final Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka that starts today.

From Javed Miandad’s last-ball six to hat-tricks from Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and Pakistan fast-bowler Wasim Akram, and India’s Sachin Tendulkar’s hard-hitting batting, the stadium has seen it all.

Earlier this year, the stadium found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing host to 200 One-Day International (ODIs) matches, the most at a single venue.

Built in the early 1980s, the stadium soon became a neutral venue for the mouth-watering clashes between India and Pakistan, who did not get to host each other due to strained relations between the two governments. Pakistan have also played two Tests each against the West Indies and Australia here after both teams refused to tour them in the wake of security concerns.

However, the Indian government’s refusal to allow its national team to play in Sharjah in 2003 left the venue deserted.

Now after a nine-year lull, international games featuring top-tier teams are set to be revived. Officials of the Sharjah Cricket Club (SCC), which owns the stadium, are only too happy to be back in the spotlight.

“Everyone is waiting with bated breath for the return of Sharjah’s glory days so we look forward to welcoming cricket fans to our new stadium,” said Waleed Bukhatir, the SCC vice-chairman.

The stadium will also hold one of five ODI matches
following the Tests on November 20.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2011.