Top India stars shun Abu Dhabi cricket
NEW DELHI, Tuesday (AFP) Ageing Indian veterans will take on leading
players from Pakistan and Sri Lanka in an unofficial one-day series
early next month in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, organisers said on
Tuesday.
The May 1-3 event, approved by the International Cricket Council,
will be the first major tournament at the new Sheikh Zayed cricket
stadium and will raise funds for tsunami relief work, Abu Dhabi cricket
official Ravi Pandit said.
While the Sri Lankan and Pakistani teams will be led by respective
national captains Marvan Atapattu and Inzamam-ul-Haq, India will be
represented by former Test players and veteran first-class cricketers.
"We were unable to get top Indian players like Sachin Tendulkar and
Rahul Dravid, so we took the help of former captain Kapil Dev to raise a
team for our event," Pandit told AFP.
"The exact composition of the Indian team is not known but I can
confirm that former players like Robin Singh, Sunil Joshi and Ajay
Jadeja will take part."
The Sri Lankan team, announced on Monday by the government-appointed
interim cricket committee, includes all the top players except the four
engaged in English county cricket: Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath
Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas and Upul Chandana.
Pakistan will field the same squad that completed a successful tour
of India earlier this month, winning the one-day series 4-2 after
drawing the Test rubber 1-1, Pandit said. With the matches not granted
official status, the three teams will be known as the Indian Masters,
Pakistan Masters and Sri Lanka Masters.
The Sri Lankans will meet the Indians on May 1 and the Pakistanis on
May 2, while the Indians will clash with the Pakistanis on May 3. There
will be no final. This is the second time in the last 12 month that
India has shunned a cricket event in Abu Dhabi.
Last April, the Indian cricket board declined to send a team for an
exhibition match against Pakistan which was supposed to inaugurate the
20,000-capacity Zayed stadium.
India have not played official cricket in the UAE since March, 2000
following a directive from the government to avoid off-shore venues like
Abu Dhabi's neighbouring emirate, Sharjah, following a global
match-fixing scandal. |