Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is here, so is India’s Union Minister and BCCI supremo Sharad Pawar. Then there are Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor, Amrita Arora, Esha Deol, Zayed Khan and even Salman Khan. Proof enough that Abu Dhabi is now the new Sharjah of cricket.

So what’s it with this UAE venue, which has already pocketed $ 12 million from this two-match India-Pakistan series? The answer probably is a mix of cricket politics, the match-fixing cloud over Sharjah and some hard work by organisers here.

Officials of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council (ADCC) point to the hard work of five years that went into the 20,000-capacity Sheikh Zayed Stadium and are quick to dismiss any suggestion of politics. But sources say the DLF Cup tournament is the result of an elaborately planned effort by the BCCI to make the desert stadium the hottest venue for off-shore cricket. From finding a sponsor to designing the trophy, everything has been minutely supervised by the Indian board with the ACC remaining a grateful partner.

ADCC president B R Shetty told The Indian Express: ‘‘The entire amount generated from here will go in developing cricket in the region. We are indebted to the BCCI for answering our pleas and coming to play cricket here. I am sure that we will give the best of facilities and prove a good cricket venue for all teams.’’

For Sharjah then, the sources say, it is definitely curtains—at least as long as the present BCCI regime is at the helm. The board, they say, has its reasons for promoting Abu Dhabi, especially with off-shore venues figuring prominently on their commercial blueprint:

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