New Fans, and Old - ILT20 Attracts UAE Crowds to Stadium for T20 Matches

Huge crowd across different countries gather to witness the second season of ILT20 2024.

Fans have been turning up in big numbers for the International League T20 matches in the UAE.

Photo Credit: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint 

A group of young fans from Sharjah High School stayed behind after their own friendly match at the Sharjah Stadium to witness the ILT20's Qualifier 2 match between Gulf Giants and Dubai Capitals. 

Aashman Bhanubali a class 7 boy is a big Gulf Giants fan. He was excited as he got the autograph of Dominic Drakes. 

He says, "Gulf Giant will definitely prove, why they are called Giants and I am blessed to have Drake's signature"

Fans can be seen offering prayer outside Sharjah stadium before the match starts.

Ali Hasan clicking photo of his friend Md. Azizullah at the Sharjah Stadium. They both work as container workers in Sharjah and came to the county from Pakistan 3 years ago. 

On asking them about there favorite team and player, both excitedly replied, "Dubai Capitals k liye aaye hai aur Sikander Raza ko support karte hai, wo bhi Pakistan se hai". 

A lady cheers for the Gulf Gaints  from the stands. 

Kasif Saeed from Pakistan has been working in Dubai as an electrician for 6 years now, and said he was a big Gulf Giants fan.

On asking about the team, he said, " Aaj umeed to hai ki Gulf Gaints acchi perform karegi, baaki inshalllah, Allah pe umeed hai".

He said his favorite players were James Vince and Usman Khan. 

Md. Farooqui with his friend Abdur Rehman came ro the stadium alone to witness Friday's match between Gulf Giants and Dubai Capitals.

On asking them who is their favorite player was, they said, "Mujhe player nhi pata hai, but Dubai Capitas ka game play accha lagta hai."

They were waiting for their father to pick them from the stadium, back home.

Alamin (in blue), 27, has been living in Sharjah for the last two months. He is part of a group of boys who came to from Bangladesh to support Dubai Capitals. 

Alamin and his band of boys have been watching ILT20 matches in the stadium for the last month. He shared images for when they were shown on air during the ILT20 broadcast of the Gulf Gaints vs MI Emirates match. 

Anju and Bharti, from Haryana, India have been living in Sharjah since the last four months. This was the first time they'd come to a stadium to watch a match live.

On asking them who they were supporting on the day, they said, "Ye to pata nhi, par dono ki taraf hai". 

Rehmanullah, 23, from Afghanistan, has been working as a labourer in Dubai for the last 5 years, and said he was very fond of cricket.

"Jis time se league shuru hua hai, humlog daily aata hai. Dubai, Abu Dhabi har ground me jata hai cricket dekhne ke liye. Bahut showk rakha hai cricket ka, itna naam malum nhi hai bas showk hai cricket ka aur showk ke liye support karta hai"