The fervour for the India-Pakistan match is so intense that for many beating Pakistan in Dubai seems even more important than winning the Champions Trophy itself, observes K R Nayar, the veteran cricket writer.
The romance between Indian cricket fans and the Indian cricket team in the UAE spans several decades.
Though it was a lazy Sunday for most people, the day began with exciting news -- the Indian team had arrived from Mumbai on Saturday night, February 15, 2025 for the Champions Trophy.
For Indian expatriate fans, the love for cinema and cricket goes hand in hand.
It was in Sharjah that Bollywood actors and singers first regularly cheered for cricket, long before Bollywood stars became part of the Indian Premier League.
Comedian Mehmood Ali, who starred in the 1966 movie Love in Tokyo, used to be a regular in the VIP pavilion during Sharjah matches.
As news travels fast, videos of the Indian team departing from Mumbai quickly reached fans in Dubai. Some of them rushed to the airport in excitement.
There are cricket fans in Dubai who are like those eager to buy the latest iPhone as soon as it hits the market -- they don't mind the hassle of waiting in queues or, in this case, spending money on airport parking.
Their goal is to claim that they had the first glimpse of the Indian team in Dubai.
Unlike in India, television channels and photographers in the UAE are not stationed at airports full-time.
So, as soon as channels flashed the news that the Indian team was en route to Dubai to conquer the Champions Trophy, fans in Dubai took it upon themselves to shoot videos and post them online with the title 'Indian Team Arrives in Dubai: Mission Champions Trophy'.
Some people who had come to receive passengers also rushed to take photos of the Indian cricketers, while Coach Gautam Gambhir shook hands with a fan in the crowd.
Shreyas Iyer, fresh from his 78 against England in the last match of the series in Ahmedabad, waved at fans.
Iyer has always been greeted in Tamil and Malayalam by fans from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, who form a majority of the Indian Diaspora in Dubai.
His father Santosh Iyer is a Tamilian with ancestral roots in Thrissur, Kerala. Shreyas also has a close family friend, V Rajan, from Kerala, living in Dubai.
The fervour for the India-Pakistan match is so intense that for many beating Pakistan in Dubai seems even more important than winning the Champions Trophy itself.
Interestingly, tickets for India's opener against Bangladesh are still available, but fans are in a frenzy to secure seats for the highly anticipated February 23 match between India and Pakistan.
On Sunday morning, news broke that 'additional tickets will be available for India's three group-stage matches and the first semi-final, going on sale for fans from 12 PM GST on Sunday, February 16'.
This announcement was met with excitement, but how many fans got tickets remains uncertain.
The hot contests ahead seem to have erased the winter chill. Many believe that the winter in Dubai has been short and sweet this year -- just like the Champions Trophy has been over the years.
To capture readers' attention, two narratives have been circulating in the media -- one negative, one positive.
The negative one, which has sparked debates, questions whether this could be the last international tournament for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli if India fails to win the Champions Trophy.
The positive one is an optimistic analysis predicting that Rohit Sharma's century and Kohli's half-century are just appetisers for a spectacular Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai.
If India wins the Champions Trophy, it will be a unique achievement, as the tournament is being hosted by Pakistan.
For Pakistan, the challenge is not just to beat India on February 23 but also to ensure they take the trophy home by winning the final.
Unlike previous India-Pakistan clashes, this time, national pride is at an all-time high.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
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