The high-profile T20 Women’s World Cup game between India and Pakistan may have failed to produce a captivating contest, with the former winning comfortably by six wickets, but it broke the record for highest attendance in a group stage match of the global showpiece event at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
Sixteen thousand fans turned up on Sunday afternoon defying the intense heat to support their teams in what was a new high for women’s cricket.
The 2024 edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup was scheduled to be held in Bangladesh, but political unrest in the South Asian country forced the ICC (International Cricket Council) to move the tournament to the UAE.
While the tournament got underway on Thursday in Sharjah, all eyes were on the big game between India and Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday.
And the fans made it a memorable occasion by turning up in big numbers at the 25,000-capacity Dubai International Stadium.
And the state-of-the-art stadium could not have celebrated its 100th T20 international stadium in a more glorious way.
Subhan Ahmad, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates Cricket Board, was delighted with the crowd attendance on Sunday.
“It’s extremely encouraging especially considering the short span of time we got to make all the preparations and to have this crowd,” Ahmad told the Khaleej Times.
“It’s great to have close to 20,000 people (16,000) attending this match, it’s really, really encouraging. It just goes on to show how much people in the UAE follow cricket and they support their teams.
“So, we are very, very happy. And what has further encouraged us that this was not the final of the tournament, this was only a group stage game for which people have come out in large numbers. So it’s very encouraging and we are extremely pleased.”
Ahmad, the former COO of the Pakistan Cricket Board, hoped Sunday’s record attendance would encourage more cricket-loving expats to come to the grounds in Dubai and Sharjah to support their teams in the ongoing World Cup.
“It has built interest for the rest of the tournament now. People would become aware that there are competitive matches, and there is quality cricket going on. It’s going to attract more people to come to the stadiums. And this is what exactly we are targeting,” he said.
“So the request is to do come and support your respective teams and to come and support cricket in general because if highest form of cricket is played in packed stadiums that builds the atmosphere and the UAE has always been very, very accommodating.
“This country is known to have hosted some of the best cricket tournaments in history, so we hope more and more people will come out and support the teams and cricket in general.”