GROUND ZERO REPORT
Follow UsDubai is a city of lights, glamour, glory and those glittering skyscrapers. The weather is pretty pleasant at this time of the year and with mega events like EXPO 2020 and ICC T20 World Cup currently being hosted in the city, it is presently one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in the world.
Well, amid all this glitz and glory, you can find a certain place in Dubai where the usual festive vibe is missing — at the Sports City area. It is that part of the town where all the cricket related activities take place as the Dubai International Stadium, the headquarters of the International Cricket Council, as well as the ICC Cricket Academy are situated here, almost one next to another.
Primarily thanks to cricket (Indian cricket and its fans to be specific) the business community in this and the adjacent areas were slowly coming back to normal following the COVID gloom. However, on Sunday evening following Afghanistan's defeat against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi, the dreams of India's dismal campaign getting a lifeline in this World Cup were shattered along with hopes of those people, who are dependent on the local economy in the Sport City area.
"During the India match days, a lot of fans used to come here," said a local business owner who did not wish to be named. "Thanks to them all the local hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and travel agencies made a profit in the past few weeks and it was much needed for us following the pandemic.
“With no more India games in the semi-final and final, I don’t think we will have enough supporters coming to the ground,” he added.
Afghanistan were still in the game when we reached the ICC Cricket Academy to cover India's optional practice session on the eve of their last league fixture against Namibia . In fact, the Indian team initially delayed the start of the session by half an hour, waiting for the result of the afternoon match. And as soon as it went in the favour of New Zealand, India's session was called off.
Soon the floodlights of both the training grounds (as Namibia had already cancelled their scheduled training) were switched off. All of a sudden there was a feeling of gloominess all around us. Amid all the dazzle of Dubai's glittery high rises and a vibrant nightlife, there was a place in the city where darkness crept in.
A Canada based Indian couple, Varun and Shilpa were waiting outside the academy, hoping to see their favourite players come down for practice. A few days back they flew down from Toronto with overpriced flight tickets to watch the final leg of the T20 World Cup.
"Despite losing to Pakistan in the first game, we were hopeful about our semi-final chances. We even anticipated an India-Pakistan final and planned our holiday around that. But with the Indian team being knocked out early, our plan is now completely doomed," mentioned Varun.
We had to further tell them that Virat Kohli & Co. would not come for the pre-match practice and their gloomy faces narrated the story of every other disappointed Indian cricket fan, who were expecting their team to do well in this World Cup under familiar conditions in the United Arab Emirates.
With the next edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia less than a year away, a high majority of the fans with whom we had interacted here in Dubai, are now banking on the upcoming head coach Rahul Dravid and the new skipper, which is most likely to be Rohit Sharma, to turn things around for Team India.
