Dubai makes play for India’s sporting biz

Dubai: The city of Dubai which has pumped in millions of dollars to build two new sports facilities is offering India’s sporting stars to use its sprawling venues for practice sessions as well as major fixtures like IPL.

Millions of dollars have been invested into, two new facilities, Dubai Sports City and Hamdan Sports Complex, with the aim to attract international games to its shores in the wake of the IPL matches held here earlier this year.

“We would love to have Indian Premier League (IPL) back in Dubai. We have some excellent practice facilities, with pitches created from clay flown in from cricket playing nations like Australia and England,” said Mackey Dudhia, a former Caribbean cricketer turned general manager of Dubai Sports City.

Hamdan Sports Complex (HSC), is supported by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and also functions as an academy for budding young cricketers.

At the HSC the young cricketers can practise their batting shots with the aid of computer-generated bowling actions from all well-known bowlers from international cricket.

“The IPL gave a real boost to the international sporting arena here. Their biggest strength is that they have developed multi-pronged venues,” said Paras Shahdadpuri, chair of Dubai’s Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC).