The UAE’s excitement over hosting the IPL has been well documented, but the fuss expected on the eve of the opening match was rather muffled
Karthik Krishnaswamy in Abu Dhabi15-Apr-2014It’s hard to tell if it’s one hoarding or two. They are the same size, they sit next to each other, and they share the instantly identifiable colour scheme of the same soft drink brand. Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Robin van Persie, Jack Wilshere, Sergio Ramos and David Luiz strike menacing poses in one of them, while Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Shane Watson and Rohit Sharma smile out of the other.All the above names are, in their own way, superstars. But the difference between the two groups of faces can be summed up very simply. The cricketers probably know all there is to know about the footballers, and follow their careers closely. The footballers are unlikely to have heard of the cricketers.What does it say, though, that the two worlds have collided on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road? How big, and how visible, is the IPL in its new, temporary home?The eve of the tournament provided conflicting answers to that question. It had taken over Gulf News’ sports supplement, filling up its centre-spread and the pages either side of it. There was no mention of it, though, in the evening sports bulletin on , which instead focused on the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, and news of Red Bull Racing’s failed appeal against the disqualification of one of its drivers at the Australian Grand Prix.One plausible explanation is the difference in target audience. And understandably so in a society as massively multicultural as the UAE’s.On Tuesday evening at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, players, backroom staff and a special list of invitees waited to board coaches that would whisk them away to an undisclosed location where, rumour had it, they would be entertained by Bollywood’s most famous names at a private dinner.In India, on days such as this, reasonably large crowds of fans mill around hotels to catch a glimpse of the players. Here, only a scattering of Indian expatriates hung around, despite the fact that the papers had been full of news about this tournament-eve party. It seemed that attending the matches – most of the early games are sold out – and watching the cricket would be more than enough IPL for Abu Dhabi’s cricket fans.At one point, Virat Kohli (carrying his suit on a hanger), MS Dhoni, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Watson, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir walked out of the hotel entrance and strolled down towards its lawns to catch a glimpse of the skyscrapers, backlit by the setting sun, on the opposite side of the road. They went more or less unmolested, and the handful of camera-toting enthusiasts who followed them quickly gave way when a security guard gestured with a hefty arm.A group of Russian tourists sat on the steps as the cricketers walked past, completely oblivious to who they might have been. It must have been refreshing, but also a touch unsettling, for the players. It certainly wouldn’t have happened to Messi, Aguero and van Persie.Asked what the evening promised, a former India player said Shah Rukh Khan was expected perform. Turning to a friend by his side, the cricketer added: “I hope it gets over soon.”
