The Sharjah Cricket Stadium ( ar, ملعب الشارقة للكريكيت) is in
Sharjah
Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area.
Sharjah is the capital ...
in the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
. It holds the record for the most ODIs hosted in a venue with 240 ODIs up to December 2019. It was originally constructed in the early 1980s and has been much improved over the years.
[Cricinfo: Sharjah Stadium Profile](_blank)
, Retrieved 23 August 2010. It hosted its first international matches in April 1984, in the
Asia Cup
The Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup is a men's One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countrie ...
. The stadium was one of the dedicated venues for the
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
In 2010, at the behest of local cricketing patron Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, the Sharjah Cricket Stadium became the home ground for the
Afghanistan cricket team for
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
and
first-class matches.
[Cricinfo: Sharjah named Afghanistan's new home ground](_blank)
, Retrieved 23 August 2010. In 2016, Afghanistan changed their home ground to
Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground
The Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex or Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground is a cricket and association football stadium in Greater Noida, India, and it was the home ground of the Afghanistan national cricket team. In 2017, it lost ...
in
Noida
Noida, short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, is a planned city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Noida is a satellite city of Delhi and is a part of the National Capital Region (NCR) o ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. The
Multan Sultans and the
Quetta Gladiators
Quetta Gladiators ( Urdu, Balochi: ; Pashto: کویټه ګلیډیټرز) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 cricket franchise that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They play most home games at the 27,000-capacity Gaddafi Stad ...
used the Sharjah Cricket Stadium for most of their home games in the most recent PSL season.
The cricket stadium also hosted the inaugural edition of the
T10 cricket league, which is a 90-minute cricket league from 14 to 17 December 2017 featuring several international cricket players.
The stadium also hosted the final of the
2018 Blind Cricket World Cup
The 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup was the fifth Blind Cricket World Cup tournament, and was held from 8–20 January 2018 in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. In the final, defending champions India defeated Pakistan by 2 wickets to secure the ...
featuring
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
with India defeating Pakistan by 2 wickets to secure the
Blind Cricket World Cup
Blind may refer to:
* The state of blindness, being unable to see
* A window blind, a covering for a window
Blind may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Blind'' (2007 film), a Dutch drama by Tamar van den Dop
* ''Blind' ...
title. It has 62 metre boundaries in long on and 58 metre in straight. It has 65 metre boundary in mid wicket.
Test matches
Sharjah cricket stadium is one of the few
Test Cricket Grounds at which a
Test match has been played not involving a home country participant (and the only one in a non-Test playing country) Sharjah was the venue for four Test matches in 2002. Because of security and safety concerns in Pakistan and its aftermath) the ground was chosen as a neutral venue to host two Test matches between
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
in February and two Test matches between Pakistan and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
in October.
The fifth Test match held at the ground took place in November 2011, as the third Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The other games in the series were played at the
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi and Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
One Day Internationals
Between 1984 and 2003, the Sharjah ground was the venue for 206
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
s
held as part of commercially sponsored one day tournaments involving three or four international teams. Sharjah was a popular venue attracting good crowds mostly from the South Asian population of the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
. The tournaments were organised by "The Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS)" which had been established in 1981 by Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, and whose main aim was to honour cricketers of the past and present generations from India and Pakistan, with benefit purses in recognition of their services to the game of cricket. The stadium initially started with a few limited seats and very modest facilities but by 2002 had a 17,000 capacity and floodlights.
Since 2003 the increasingly crowded cricket calendar has precluded the holding of any major international matches at Sharjah although the stadium has been the venue for certain other matches, for example in the
2004 ICC Intercontinental Cup. It has also been used by the
Afghanistan national team since 2010. In 2011, the Guinness Book of Records recorded the Sharjah stadium as hosting the greatest number of one-day matches. , 240 ODIs had been played at the ground.
[Sharjah stadium stats]
at espncricinfo.com, March 2019
ICC Men's T20 World Cup
The venue hosted 11 group-stage matches during
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
Indian Premier League
The UAE has hosted matches in the
Indian Premier League, with matches being played on the ground on each occasion. The
2014 season was played in the UAE due to the
2014 Indian general election
General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...
and parts of both the
2020 and
2021 season were played in the country due to the
widespread outbreak of COVID-19 in India.
Records
T20Is
* On 24 November 2013,
Samiullah Shinwari
Samiullah Shinwari ( ps, سميع الله شينواري; born 31 December 1987) is an Afghan cricketer who represents Afghanistan in international level. He is a right-handed batsman and part-time leg break bowler. He made his international ...
took a five wicket haul against
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
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, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
.
* On 25 October 2021,
Mujeeb Ur Rahman took a five wicket haul against
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
.
* On 6 November 2021,
Kagiso Rabada took a hat-trick against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
in a 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup's super 12 Match.
See also
*
List of Test cricket grounds
*
Rashid Alleem Premier League
References
{{List of cricket grounds in United Arab Emirates
Sport in Sharjah (city)
Cricket grounds in the United Arab Emirates
Test cricket grounds in the United Arab Emirates