The Dubai Capitals fought hard against Gulf Giants at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, but stumbled to a six-wicket loss at the DP World ILT20 on Monday. However, the Capitals have a great opportunity to put things right as they will meet the Giants in their next match of the competition at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Speaking about their next game, Uthappa said, “We’ve just played them and they beat us. There’s information shared on both ends. But we are going to focus on our own strengths and keep the opposition out of the equation. However, we are also going to keep the information about how the Gulf Giants play at hand and utilise it when required.”
Uthappa also urged cricket lovers in the UAE to cheer for the Capitals across the three venues – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah during the DP World ILT20, “This tournament is going to provide high-quality cricket to anybody, who likes watching cricket. So I would like to tell the fans that they should drop by the stadium after work and the youngsters, who go to school, should convince their parents to bring them to the games.”
The opening batter, who scored 79 runs off 46 balls in the Dubai Capitals’ last game against the Giants, spoke about his splendid innings, “It was pretty good to get the team off to a great start. The wicket was a lot better than what we played on in our opening game in Dubai. Everything seemed to be working on that day.”
Uthappa is looking forward to batting at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium as he feels that Sharjah has a good batting track, “Sharjah has had a great batting track historically. The ground is small too. But after the wicket was relayed a couple of years ago, we have seen a massive difference in the way the wicket produces runs. When I watched the highlights of last night’s match between Sharjah Warriors and MI Emirates, the wicket looked skiddy to me and the ball was coming onto the bat. It feels like you can score runs on the wicket, but you’ve to figure out the kind of shots you need to play on the wicket.”
The Dubai Capitals will be up against Gulf Giants at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday at 6 pm GST (7:30 pm IST) in their next game of the DP World ILT20
