Almost all roads led to the Dubai International Stadium for the Afghanistan-Pakistan match on Friday, as fans walked in groups or arrived in trucks. Not even the India-Pakistan match last Sunday saw such traffic snarls. Many of the Afghan population here are truck drivers and as the match fell on a Friday (weekend holiday), a lot more of them could come watch their team take on Pakistan, who have been on a winning spree.
Most of the Afghans can’t afford the tickets but whenever the team plays in Dubai or Sharjah, they turn up in huge numbers — they cheer the team bus and wait outside for friends who manage to get tickets inside.
A cricket enthusiast said tickets should be sold at reduced prices for Afghanistan matches. Some of the fans without tickets tried to climb over the railings on Friday to enter the stadium. At the post-match news conference, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi appealed to them to buy tickets and come into the stadium. “Please don’t do this again. This is not good,” he said.
2013 rerun
Before Friday’s match, Pakistan and Afghanistan had played only one T20I, in Sharjah in 2013. Pakistan won that by six wickets, with one ball to spare. Nabi had captained the 2013 side as well.
Most Afghanistan fans on Friday had “AFG” painted on their cheeks in black, red, and green — the colours on their national flag. It looked as if fans from both teams were locked in a contest for who could make the loudest noise. But when decisions were referred to the third umpire there would be an eerie silence.
Though Afghanistan were at one point struggling at 50/4, the fans continued to clap for their batsmen.
Some of the comments flowing in from the Pakistan fans seated near the pavilion were hilarious though. One of them said, “If Afghanistan bowlers win the match for them, they will be known as the best dew bowlers of the World Cup.”
Fans of poetry
Pakistan fans from Peshawar wear similar clothes as the Afghans and they, too, speak Pashto, the language spoken commonly in Afghanistan.
An Indian fan said he is careful while expressing support for the Pakistan team before a Pathan, since s/he could be Afghani.
Afghanistan captain Nabi plays in the UAE’s domestic cricket tournament as a guest player for many clubs. He also plays in the Abu Dhabi T10 with teammates Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. All three of them are fans of a Dubai-based Indian poet, Aman Haider. On break days from matches here, the players visit Haider to listen to his poetry in Urdu and Hindi.
Haider also speaks Pashto and Nabi has even taught him how to greet Afghanistan cricketers in Pashto. “Sange Jodee (How are you all)?”