ICC tourney's Dubai leg is India's event in isolation

Enroute to their pre-tournament team photo shoot, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja are trying to remember how many ICC World Cups they have competed in. Rohit recalls he's been to nine T20 World Cups, Jadeja has lost count.

- Rasesh Mandani

DUBAI: Enroute to their pre-tournament team photo shoot, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja are trying to remember how many ICC World Cups they have competed in. Rohit recalls he's been to nine T20 World Cups, Jadeja has lost count.

The usual giggle and laughs take over as cricketers emote over photographer's instructions. "Satarah baar bulaya hai unhone, yehi sab karne (17 times they have called me, to do all this)," Rohit tells Jadeja in a BCCI video.

By now their minds have been trained so well to embrace a world tournament and all it accompanies that you wonder if the emotions are spontaneous any more.

Playing an ICC event in Dubai? They've done that before. India were here when the 2021 T20 World Cup, for which they had hosting rights, was shifted to the UAE because of Covid. IPL 2020 and part of IPL 2021 were also played here during the pandemic. In 2014, IPL was shifted to the UAE during general elections.

Much before Dubai became the go-to match venue for BCCI and ICC, it was Pakistan cricket's adopted home. Through the 2010s when international cricket came to a grinding halt in Pakistan for security reasons, they played their matches here. Even then, it appeared more of a make-do arrangement. Pakistan would play their home Tests to swathes of empty seats.