On Wednesday, the 250th one-day match will take place at the UAE’s oldest cricket stadium.
Until late Tuesday evening, Mazhar Khan, General Manager of Sharjah Cricket Stadium, was still on the ground, overwhelmed with emotions in excitement of the ground breaking event.
Khan states that when Afghanistan play on Wednesday against South Africa in the first of the three matches, this particular antique sport venue will make history by becoming the first in the world to shelter 250 one day internationals.
In an ODI-territory of 50 overs, the Sharjah Cricket Stadium has already outdone itself by becoming the only cricket stadium in the world that has staged 200 ODIs. The oldest posting place of cricket in the Middle East is now nearing to celebrate another staggering record in the most controversially paved underground in the world on Tuesday.
In their dreams, definitely Khan and all those associated with the ground developed the anticipation of proud parents of a bride, whose daughter was going to get married today.
Khan was not only one of these few doctors, he had also taken part in cricket as an amateur. As he first emigrated to the Sultanate of Oman for work in early July of 2004, he joined a cricket club there.
“It is to take off the sad time for us, but I played with a cricket club where T G Mohandas was playing with a host of great cricketers,” Khan said.
In 1974, Abdul Rahman Bukhatir established the Bukhatir League which is the most authoritative amateur cricket competition in the UAE today.
While studying in a school in Karachi, the young Emirati fell in love with the game of cricket.
When he arrived back, Bukhatir envisioned introducing cricket in a nation that was obsessed with soccer. That idea soon turned to an addiction where he built a case for domestic cricket before showcasing the international cricketing greats for a high voltage exhibition encounter of Gavaskar XI vs Miandad XI held in 1981.
AMany thousands of Indian and Pakistani expatriates on the other hand came to watch the exhibition game because the two teams waged a remarkable battle on the temporary stadium built to accommodate the game.
Cricket revolution in the desert
Encouraged by that achievement, Bukhatir constructed the Sharjah Cricket Stadium which helped revolutionize cricket in the desert and was host to international tournaments every year and some of the spectacular matches that the game has ever witnessed.
Wednesday will be one of those occasions when the global stars of the game will be missing in action when splendid Afghanistan grammar, head to head with the crippled South African line up.
Still, each person attending the stadium seems to take comfort in the fact that 250 has now created some breathing space between Sharjah and Harare Sports Club, Sydney and Melbourne cricket grounds which have hosted the most ODIs in history.
‘We were already being credited by the Guinness Book of World Records because we were staging the 200th match. Now we are something like 65 matches ahead of Harare (182), Sydney (161) and Melbourne (151).’ Khan said.
Afghanistan’s Sharjah connection
The remarkable narrative of crumble Afghanistan that has really pleases the hearts of many lovers of cricket, would possibly have told another story had it not been for the heroic intervention of Bukhatir. ‘It is good that Afghanistan will be in our 250th ODI match. After all, it is their first adopted home ground,’ Khan said.
‘You know they still can’t play international cricket in their country because of the political situation. Some eluded men of international cricket. back in 2010, it was Mr. Bukhatir, who offered them the ground for their home matches, there were no suspended games as this was in the UAE.’
The Afghans didn’t have a proper cricket facility and their side was at the bottom of Division 5 of the ICC World Cricket League.
Last year, they were very close to entering the ODI World Cup for the semifinals and this year, they visited the T20’s turning up another giant killing run making it to the semifinals’.
Tourist attraction
The Sharjah Cricket experience was such a significant feature in the sporting history of the Indian subcontinent that certain age tourists even have this stadium high on their bucket list.
“Many tourist buses come to the stadium. Plenty of these tourists are free due to Mr Khalaf Bukhatir (CEO of Sharjah Cricket Stadium and the son of Abdul Rahman Bukhatir),” Khan recalled.
So the clients arrive, they go inside the free to use stadium and take their photographs. They can also access the VIP section in which we have a few life sized portraits of all the heroes who played in this ground and one of the museums available
“The portraits are quite appealing therefore people come and are dressed near the photos and take the images. And that is what pleases us a lot. That people still attach such importance to this place and people.”
This special stadium has a special memory to one of the great cricketers.
“And which early this year, I was talking to Wasim Akram, he was like, I had over 100 122 ODI wickets only in the ground of Sharjah. He actually regarded it as a record,” Khan said.
“Sharjah is the venue where he has appeared for the maximum number of ODIs 77 in his career. He says he has not played that many matches at another place.
“You know, Wasim and Waqar Younis and Imran Khan and Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar and all such legends. You ask them, all of them enjoyed playing here.”