M.Hamed Bahhar, Waleed Bukhatir and Amy Baaro
Sharjah - Waleed Bukhatir, vice-chairman of Sharjah Cricket Council (SCC) and executive committee member of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), is least perturbed by the low attendance. In fact, he is more than pleased to be hosting cricket at the Iconic venue.
Published: Mon 8 Feb 2016, 1:04 PM
The Oxigen Masters Champions League (MCL) is probably facing teething problems by way of trying to fill the stadiums, this despite legends of the game like Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Virender Sehwag-to name a few - throwing their weight behind with participation in the tournament.
However, Waleed Bukhatir, vice-chairman of Sharjah Cricket Council (SCC) and executive committee member of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), is least perturbed by the low attendance. In fact, he is more than pleased to be hosting cricket at the Iconic venue.
Speaking exclusively to Khaleej Times on Saturday night, he said, "First of all we are excited to have cricket happening in the UAE. It's always nice to see players from all around the world playing at this historic venue.
"We've been happy with the MCL attendance especially since it's the first edition of the tournament and people are getting to know about it.
"I think people at home too are watching and there is a good response from TV viewership ," added Bukhatir.
"Our main happiness is to see cricket live and see spectators enjoy cricket action in the UAE.
"Whenever there are cricket matches here it increases the passion among spectators, players become passionate and that develops the standard of cricket in the UAE.
"Today UAE has a One-Day International (ODI) status and we are proud to have that. We have twice played in the World Cup and we did quite well," he said proudly.
"I feel that with such cricket happening here it will only inspire UAE cricketers to keep playing and aim to be part of the UAE national squad.
"At the end of the day the Sharjah Cricket Stadium is a pearl, it is a gem for cricket having hosted 223 ODIs, by far the first venue to host that many ODIs."
With the conclusion of MCL matches in Sharjah on Sunday and the onset of Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches from February 10, Bukhatir is all too happy that the SCS will be hosting nine of the PSL matches.
"We are happy to be hosting PSL and we wish the organisers-Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) -- all the best as it's a great idea and a beautiful product."
When asked whether an India-Pakistan series could take place in the near future, Bukhatir said, "Insha Allah, I foresee India-Pakistan matches although I would like to see all the teams play in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but India-Pakistan matches have a different flavour and the ground is always full.
"Sharjah is the only venue to have hosted the maximum number of India-Pakistan matches and there are so many memories like the Javed Miandad six of the last ball from Chetan Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar's thunderstorm innings, so it's always nice to see India-Pakistan matches happening in Sharjah."
The two countries will be clashing soon in Bangladesh during the Asia Cup and in India for the T20 World Cup. Sharjah will do well to grab this opportunity and work towards getting them to the UAE.
"We hope it (India-Pakistan) happens sooner than later. We will be working towards it to make sure they play here soon."
clareto@khaleejtimes.com
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