Sheikh Zayed Stadium is a cricket stadium in Abu Dhabi which is named after its former ruler late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan. It is one of the three premium stadiums in the UAE and serves as a home ground of Pakistan national cricket team.
Sheikh Zayed Stadium Capacity
It has an estimated capacity of 20,000 with seating stands at both the ends and grass banks for additional seating square of the wicket. Sheikh Zayed stadium is undoubtedly one of the finest cricket stadiums in the world.
An ICC verdict in 2009 banned international ICC affiliated matches from being hosted in Pakistan on the aftermath of attacks on Sri Lankan team in Lahore and Pakistan had to adopt UAE as its home. Since then, Sheikh Zayed has regularly hosted all forms of cricket. It has also hosted tournaments for associate nations and friendlies.
Apart from that, it also hosted a few matches of the Indian Premier League in 2014 when the matches were played in UAE due to the ongoing elections in India.
History
The stadium was completed in 2004 and the first event it hosted was an Intercontinental Cup match between Scotland and Kenya. The first ODI it hosted was an India-Pakistan match in 2006.
UAE served as a second home to the Pakistan cricket team even back then, and Pakistan frequently played at the Sheikh Zayed stadium even before the ICC verdict.
However, it hosted a Test match for the first time in November 2010, when Pakistan faced South Africa.
Notable Matches
Pakistan were unbeaten here in tests when underdogs Sri Lanka visited them in 2017. Against all odds, Sri Lanka were able to pull out a famous win and handed Pakistan its first Test match defeat at the stadium. It was a historic win for Lankans who were undergoing tough transition period.
Also, there were some epic nail biting encounters that the fans got to witness here during the UAE round of 2014 IPL. The epic run chase of Kings XI Punjab against Chennai Super Kings was one of the highlights of Punjab’s amazing run that year.
IPL saw its first tied super over (you read that right) in a match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals here at Sheikh Zayed stadium.
Recent Fixtures
Sheikh Zayed continues to host home games of Pakistan and UAE simultaneously. The stadium hosted some home games of UAE in the recently concluded World Cricket Championship whereas Pakistan played a test, ODI and a T20I against Sri Lanka recently.
