Dubai: Over 25,000 cricket fans ushered in the first-ever Twenty20 international cricket match in the UAE yesterday as Australia and Pakistan locked horns at Dubai Sports City's new cricket stadium.
UAE thus became the only non-Test playing nation in the world to have hosted all three versions of the game.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was present to grace the occasion.
Most of the fans, carrying balloons, danced through the roads leading to the stadium from the car park. The fans started filling the stadium from as early as 4pm for the 8.10pm start of the match.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to field as the "Ring of Fire" from the roof of the stadium spread all over the ground. When both the teams assembled before the start, the crowd cheered them loudly. Soon the news spread that Pakistan skipper Younis Khan would not be playing the match.
"Khan is down with a mild fever and will miss the match. He will be replaced by allrounder Fawad Alam," said Yawar Saeed, the manager of the Pakistan team.
The crowd looked eagerly to see whether Australian pacer Brett Lee would be coming out and they cheered when he appeared.
Misbah-ul-Haq led the Pakistan team. He had captained Pakistan during the last Asia Cup.
Australia was led by Brad Haddin as Michael Clarke, who successfully led the team to series win over Pakistan in the one-day matches, was rested. Haddin too had led Australia once in January when his team beat New Zealand in Sydney.
From the Australian team's point of view the spotlight was on Lee, who had a foot and ankle surgery after the Boxing Day Test. His performance in this match and the IPL will be invaluable for their team's performance in the Twenty20 World Cup. Shane Watson, who showed he was in brilliant form recovering from back stress factures in December, was cheered by the crowd.
Pakistan rightly named Misbah-ul-Haq as the skipper for the Twenty20 team as he has the credentials to be the future Twenty20 team skipper. He is their leading run scorer in Twenty20 with 398 runs in 14 games and a strike rate of 127. However, all eyes where on Shahid Afridi and the fans waited for the rain of sixes from him. The stadium wasn't filled with Pakistan and Australia fans alone but Indians too.
"I watch Indian Premier League every day evening but today I decided to give it a skip and watch live the real thrill of a Twenty20 match," said Jitender Singh from Chandigarh.
