Qatar Stars players celebrate a Pakistan Stars wicket during their exhibition match at Asian Town Cricket Stadium yesterday. PICTURES: Jayaram
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Cricket-lovers of Qatar were treated to a Twenty20 match last night. With a holiday crowd making sure that every inch of the Asian Town Cricket stadium was filled in, there could not have been a better atmosphere for the exhibition contest between Pakistan Stars and Qatar Stars. That the line-up was made up of Pakistan internationals made it for a good viewing.
The ambience was festive and the match was organised as part of Qatar’s National Day celebrations. Heavy traffic leading to the stadium was a testimony to the buzz the event had created.
This wasn’t even a match between two international sides. Yet the interest of the expatriate community to catch a glimpse of the match was commendable.
The T20 game was once more an indication that cricket will thrive in Qatar if promoted properly. While the organisers of yesterday’s match should be praised for conducting the game, a more professional set-up is required to hold bigger matches.
For the record, Qatar Stars won the match by 10 runs. Batting first, the host team, which also comprised number of Pakistan international players, including Nasir Jamshed, made 147 runs in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, Pakistan Stars, led by former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, could only manage 137 for 7.
Butt and fast bowler Mohamed Asif, who along with Mohamed Amir were banned from cricket for their part in a spot-fixing scandal and only were allowed to return to official cricket recently, were in action yesterday.
Saeed Ajmal was also one of the key attractions. The prolific off-spinner was forced to remodel his bowling action after being reported for suspect action in September 2014. He is currently out of the Pakistan side despite having corrected his bowling action.
There was also fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who until last year was playing Big Bash and county cricket.
