One may imagine the venue of a cricket World Cup as a houseful of spectators cheering for their favourite team. However, this was not the case at the Dubai International Stadium where the finale of the high-octane ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is currently being played.
The international cricket event apparently lost its spirit with the exit of India and Pakistan from the tournament.
The stadium remained deserted and quiet and only the security guards and fewer spectators were spotted outside it when Australia and New Zealand locked horns on Sunday. The people who had come to watch the finale were Pakistani and Indian cricket fans since they were donning jerseys of Pakistan and India, respectively.
Some, who were supporters of Pakistan’s national squad, said that they had come to watch the finale because they had booked tickets in advance to avoid inconvenience if Pakistan had made it to the final.
Seeing Pakistan’s performance throughout the tournament, they were sure that Pakistan would enter the final match but it couldn’t, they said.
Pakistani fans said they were rooting for New Zealand in the final T20 World Cup clash, adding that the "Black Caps lost to Pakistan in the tournament so they can say the team Pakistan had defeated became the champion."
Similarly, Indian fans also supported New Zealand.
They said that since they are crazy cricket enthusiasts, they enjoy the game no matter which teams are playing the finale.
"Though it would have been more fun if India was in the final match," they confessed.
New Zealand handed a 173-run target to Australia as the teams clashed at the much-awaited Men's T20 Final match today.
Australia won the toss and decided to field first.
The two teams had played a match together only once before in the T20 World Cup history when New Zealand defeated Australia by 8 runs in India.
Neither Australia nor New Zealand have won the T20 tournament before, so whoever wins today will lift the T20 trophy for the very first time.