With the later stages of the T20 World Cup taking place across just 3 venues in the UAE we look at which batsmen and bowlers have the best and indeed worst records in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah respectively.
Given that all 3 venues have been used to host at least some of the last 2 IPL seasons not to mentioned that Abu Dhabi was used as the sole stadium to finish the recent PSL it means that many of the leading T20 players in the world have played a fair amount of cricket in the UAE as we enter an intense month of cricket to played in the Emirates.
The stats in this blog post only consider players in the current T20 World Cup squads and are derived from games up to and including the IPL final on 15th October 2021.
You can view all player T20 stats by stadium on the page below
Click here to search player T20 stats by stadium
T20 Batting records in Abu Dhabi
At the top of the order the likes Sky Yadav, Kane Williamson and Babar Azam have all got excellent records batting in Abu Dhabi although at least in the group stages of the tournament each man will only get single opportunity to improve on those stats.
However, Afghanistan opener Hazratullah Zazai will get at least chances in Abu Dhabi. The big left-hander was in imperious form towards the back end of last season’s PSL and strikes at just shy of 200 at this venue. He’ll certainly be one of the players to watch in this World Cup as he seeks to expand on his growing reputation as a man who can cause damage in the powerplay.
Further down the order and South Africa will be keen for David Miller to recapture some of the form he showed at this venue in 2014. The proteas seem a little light on big hitters in the middle order and so if Miller can rediscover some of that power from years gone by it would significantly increase their chances of qualifying for the semis.
Similarly, India will be very keen to see Hardik Pandya recapture some of the run scoring that he has demonstrated in Abu Dhabi in the past. The right-hander had an underwhelming IPL but in T20 cricket a batsman is only a good innings away from returning to form.
Finally, West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard who was also not at his absolute best for Mumbai Indians this year will be hoping to lead from the front in the games that his side play at Abu Dhabi
| Batsman | Runs | Average | S/R | Group matches at this venue |
| SA Yadav | 500 | 41.7 | 165.6 | 1 |
| Babar Azam | 412 | 41.2 | 118.1 | 1 |
| Hazratullah | 275 | 45.8 | 196.4 | 3 |
| KS Williamson | 229 | 45.8 | 128.0 | 1 |
| HH Pandya | 240 | 48.0 | 171.4 | 1 |
| KA Pollard | 216 | 43.2 | 144.0 | 2 |
| DA Miller | 210 | 42.0 | 137.3 | 2 |
On the flip side several big name top order players have had their struggles in Abu Dhabi. Aaron Finch and Martin Guptill have generally been deemed surplus to requirement in franchise leagues such as the IPL on the perception that they aren’t as effective on slower and drier surfaces and certainly their stats at Abu Dhabi seem to back this up.
Meanwhile, the decision for Pakistan to go back to Fakhar Zaman, a man who has never really managed to recapture his 50 over form in the shortest format seems a strange one based on this struggles here. In fact, despite this being in many ways a home tournament for Pakistan many of their middle to lower also have pretty poor records at a ground where they’ve played a significant amount of cricket these last couple of years.
| Batsman | Runs | Average | S/R | Group matches at this venue |
| AJ Finch | 58 | 11.6 | 87.9 | 2 |
| MJ Guptill | 73 | 10.4 | 100.0 | 1 |
| Fakhar Zaman | 96 | 10.7 | 89.7 | 1 |
T20 batting records in Dubai
I’ve just watched KL Rahul spank a 23 ball half-century in a warm-up match against England and while that game is taking place on the ICC Academy Ground as opposed to the International Stadium that will be used for the World Cup itself there is clearly something about the Dubai air that agrees with King Legend. Watch his innings of 132 not out at this venue in 2020.
Simaraly, England have a couple of players with good records in Dubai including captain Eoin Morgan who looked woefully short of form in the 2nd part of the IPL despite managing to guide KKR to the final.
Elsewhere India also have Ishan Kishan who has performed very well for Mumbai Indians when they’ve visited Dubai and Ravi Jadeja who over the last couple of years has turned into one of the best finishers in the world. That India play 3 of their group games here and potentially a semi-final and final thereafter bodes well for their chances to reclaim the title they last won in 2007.
| Batsman | Runs | Average | S/R | Group matches at this venue |
| KL Rahul | 612 | 55.6 | 145.4 | 3 |
| EJG Morgan | 394 | 43.8 | 130.46 | 2 |
| KS Williamson | 343 | 42.9 | 124.3 | 2 |
| JM Bairstow | 323 | 40.4 | 127.2 | 2 |
| Ishan Kishan | 286 | 71.5 | 156.3 | 3 |
| RA Jadeja | 203 | 50.8 | 130.1 | 3 |
Strangely enough have been one of the top performers down the road in Abu Dhabi, Suryakumar Yadav has a fairly retched record in Dubai. However, as the below table shows, he’s not the only one with key players from Australia, West Indies, England and Pakistan also having struggle at this venue.
| Batsman | Runs | Average | S/R | Group matches at this venue |
| SPD Smith | 111 | 13.9 | 113.3 | 3 |
| MM Ali | 70 | 10.0 | 100.0 | 2 |
| ADS Fletcher | 107 | 15.3 | 101.9 | 2 |
| SA Yadav | 101 | 16.8 | 107.4 | 3 |
| Mohammad Rizwan | 187 | 14.4 | 100 | 2 |
T20 batting records in Sharjah
Sharjah is an interesting venue. Having seen some really big scoring during IPL 2020 the runs dried up in the recently concluded 2021 tournament and so some of the stats at this stadium perhaps need to be taken into context based on the kind of pitches that are created for the T20 World Cup.
I could include the likes of Glenn Maxwell in the list below with his incredible average of 56 and strike rate of 178.3 at Sharjah but what’s the point? Australia don’t play any of their games in Sharjah and in that sense Steve Smith (ave 44 & S/R 147) and Virat Kohli (ave 48 & S/R 122) will also miss out on the opportunity to add to their impressive T20 stats in Sharjah.
However for those sides that do play a couple of games at Sharjah, these are the player to watch for based on previous T20 form at this stadium.
| Batsman | Runs | Average | S/R | Group matches at this venue |
| Sarfraz Ahmed | 341 | 48.7 | 124.5 | 2 |
| Mohammad Rizwan | 233 | 46.6 | 133.1 | 2 |
| DJ Malan | 197 | 49.3 | 124.7 | 2 |
| Q de Kock | 173 | 43.3 | 132.1 | 2 |
By contrast a few big hitters including West Indies duo Chris Gayle and Andre Russell have found things hard going in Sharjah in the past with England captain Eoin Morgan also having struggled in previous T20 outings here.
| Batsman | Runs | Average | S/R | Group matches at this venue |
| EJG Morgan | 167 | 15.2 | 109.2 | 2 |
| CH Gayle | 190 | 21.1 | 123.4 | 1 |
| AD Russell | 108 | 12.0 | 131.7 | 1 |