Twenty20 in UAE has bright future, says Mazhar

Twenty20 cricket is here to stay. It is no more a hit and run affair. It’s not just playing across the line. The game is evolving all the time.

Mazhar Ali Khan, Administrator Emirates Cricket Board, while talking to Khaleej Times said, “Twenty20 has developed into one of top competition in the UAE and it provides chance to new players to display their skills in front of big crowds in high-intensity games.

“Take the example of 19-year-old Ibrahim Malik of Dolphin Cricket Club who hit 20 sixes in the tournament.

“It’s pure entertainment where the batsmen just go for the kill.

“There are no inhibitions and players express themselves in more aggressive way.”

Mazhar added, “We accommodate 32 teams in the tournament but more and more teams want get registered for the event.

“For the recently concluded tournament we received 46 entries but we were unable to accommodate all of them. It shows that Twenty20 is becoming more popular everywhere.

“There is no restriction on players’ participation here in Sharjah. Any team can hire any player for the tournament.

“One players can only represent one team during the event.”

The ECB administrator added, “It has been played almost in every country. This form of the game has a bright future ahead.”

International Cricket Council (ICC) acting president Ray Mali said recently he did not believe the shorter versions of the game, including Twenty20, had affected the quality of Test matches.

“The shorter version of the game has done a lot for Test cricket. It has improved the game. Now you see teams scoring 360 or 370 in a day,” said Mali, who took over after the death of ICC chief Percy Sonn. Mali said the Twenty20 format was hugely popular in his native South Africa and should be given a ‘fair run’ in other nations.

“We believe it will stimulate interest in cricket. Back home in South Africa there was a time when grandpas and grandmas would go to watch cricket matches along with their grandsons,” he said.

“The Twenty20 has brought back this interest in the game.”

Pakistan organises regular Twenty20 tournaments domestically and the response is huge. The tournaments draw big crowds and produce a number of players who are not able to play top level cricket in the country. Look at the financial side of cricket, the Twenty20 has become a money-spinner. The counties are ready to organise more such tournaments. Most of the Twenty20 matches in county are sell-out affairs.

The revenue may enable the counties to be more creative with the other formats. There have been more games each season and Test countries, with the notable exception of India who worry about the reduced TV advertising revenue from a Twenty20 game rather than a 50-over one, are hugely enthusiastic.