Photo Credit: PCB
While batters have enjoyed favorable conditions across the three venues in Pakistan during the Champions Trophy, the Dubai International Cricket Stadium has posed significant challenges for them. The slow nature of the pitches has made scoring difficult, particularly as the ball gets older, with the first two matches in Dubai seeing totals below 250.
India, unable to travel to Pakistan due to government restrictions, is playing all its matches in Dubai, where the conditions have been notably tougher for batting. Adding to the challenge is the fact that the UAE recently hosted the ILT20 league, resulting in extensive use of the pitches before the Champions Trophy.
Despite these concerns, Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) COO Subhan Ahmed has defended the state of the pitches, emphasizing that preparations were made well in advance to meet ICC standards.
“The moment we learned that we are going to be a host, we started preparing during the ILT20 tournament for these matches. We complied with all the ICC requirements,” Ahmed stated.
He further explained that measures were taken to ensure the surfaces remained in optimal condition for the marquee ICC tournament. “We gave the required rest to the pitches (during the ILT20) that we were going to use for the Champions Trophy. We managed the workload of the pitches as soon as we learned there would be an ICC event. So far, the pitches here have played well,” he added.
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Name of Author: Cricexec Staff
