The long wait is almost at an end

As the rest of the cricket world awaits the start of the Indian Premier League, cricket fans in Dubai are eagerly waiting for the first international match to be held in the emirate. World Champions Australia will take on Pakistan in a five-match ODI series, which begins on Wednesday, at the Dubai Sports City cricket ground. The newly-built stadium will then host the second game on April 24, before the teams move across to the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. There they will play three matches – on April 27, May 1 and 3 – before returning to Dubai for a one-off Twenty20 international on May 7. Australia travel to the UAE with plenty of match practice under their belt, as for the past three-and-a-half months they have been involved in a home and away series with South Africa. They have found it tough in South Africa and have lost the one-day series against the Proteas 3-1 – with the final game of their tour taking place today – slipping to No3 on the ODI rankings for the first time since the system was implemented by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2002. However, Australia still start the Chapal series in the UAE as favourites against Pakistan, who have played only three ODIs this year. The troubled Subcontinent country was in the middle of a series with Sri Lanka at home in February when terrorists attacked the visitors' bus, forcing the matches to be abandoned. The implications the attacks could have on the 2011 World Cup to be held in the Subcontinent will be discussed by the ICC in Dubai today and tomorrow. Pakistan captain Younis Khan, whose team arrived in Dubai last week, is not particularly concerned about his side's lack of match practice and believes it is something international cricketers should be able to cope with. "We have had no one-day games in the past couple of months, only the three games against Sri Lanka, but recently we had our domestic season and all our players were playing in that," said the 31-year-old. "We are lucky we played a lot of games in Pakistan and it was back-to-back matches with no rest. "But as international cricketers you have to deal with this, you can't say 'Oh we were not playing cricket before', you have to get used to any conditions you play in. "Sometimes it is difficult, but if you are strong mentally you will get used to it." Pakistan have named their strongest available squad for the series and have even included injury-prone speedster Shoaib Akhtar. Together with seamers Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir, the three form a potent new ball attack. On the batting front, they also boast some talented stroke players in Salman Butt, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik and Khan himself. The captain though, refuses to pinpoint any particular player who could be key for the side. "I don't want to put extra pressure on anybody, especially Shoaib Akhtar," he said. "In the past captains have been pointing to individual players and that puts pressure on them, but the main idea is for the senior players – we have four or five good senior players – to play to their potential and everybody should play as a team. "Cricket is a team game and it is not for one individual batsman or bowler. I'm trying to make it simple and not force or put any pressure on any individual player." Australia meanwhile, have chosen to rest captain Ricky Ponting, batsman Michael Hussey and fast bowler Mitchell Johnson for the series as all three have been playing continuously since September. Those players are seen as vital for the Ashes series against England in June. However, instead of rejoicing the fact he will face slightly weakened opponents, Khan reveals he is disappointed by the trio's withdrawal. "Ponting, Johnson and Hussey are excellent players," said Khan. "For me it is unlucky though, that as captain for the first time against Australia I don't get to face Ricky Ponting. "He is a fantastic captain and I will miss him, but Australia have a strong set-up and won't be weak." How the pitch at the new venue will play is anyone's guess at the moment, although it is expected to be similar to wickets in the Subcontinent – thus a good batting strip. There will also be an issue of dew in the field for the team bowling second, but the groundsman plan to use a chemical agent to combat the problem during the innings interval. Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam is impressed at the new facility, from what he has seen thus far saying: "You must understand it is a newly laid wicket, with seven pitches on the square and it will take time to get an overall feel for how it plays." "But I have to congratulate Dubai Sports City for building the finest cricket stadium I have seen. Just looking at the field makes you want to play cricket, it looks beautiful and lush. Sponsorship Ahmed Chapal, Executive Director for Chapal, says the reason the property development company has decided to become the title sponsor for the upcoming Pakistan-Australia series is to "motivate" the younger generation to play the game.