'It unites us' — cricket takes over Qatar again

It's 6 a.m. on a Friday on the outskirts of Doha. On a vast expanse of sand and gravel situated between a road, a highway and a construction site, five cricket matches have just begun.

"We all have busy weekdays, so Friday is something like a special release for us," says Bibin, captain of the Truth Fighters. "Cricket is life for us."

Most here work five to six days a week, with Friday traditionally the day off in many Muslim countries. There are three reasons for the early start, among them the soccer World Cup. 

"It's the temperature. Some of our Muslim players also have to go praying so we need to finish by 10 a.m.," says Bibin, who is Hindu. "Some teams normally play in the afternoons as well, but they had to stop because we have to clear the roads for the visitors." 

Rivalries set aside in community leagues 

While there are fierce rivalries between Asian cricket fans along with political tensions between some of the region's countries, in Qatar the sport has a unifying effect.

"We play all year round, we only stop in the Ramadan time," says IT administrator Bibin, whose team includes players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"Cricket unites all of us, there is not much conflict. Here, we are just playing for fun, not nationality. We go to restaurants together, it's not about any country or state." 

Bibin's rival today is his good friend Jhitin, who captains the Doha Challengers. 

"We all play like brothers and enjoy the days, even during the summer when it's like 50 degrees and we have to start playing at 4:30 a.m.," says the environmental engineer, who was born and raised in Qatar but only has Indian citizenship. Like Bibin, his family hails from the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Football the focus, but cricket has the numbers

Football is the sport Qatar has invested most heavily in, but in a country where 90% of the inhabitants are not citizens cricket has become the dominant national sport among amateurs.

"There are at least 250 teams here in Qatar," says Jhitin. "Each team has to register a minimum of 20 players, so you can count the number of players!"

Indian citizens alone easily outnumber the roughly 300,000 Qataris living in the Gulf state, who only make up around 10% of the population. Qatar does have a national cricket team, which played its first competitive fixture in 2002. Its current and former captain were both Pakistanis by birth, and the team is now 23rd in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Twenty20 rankings. 

"Qataris are not that much into cricket, they are more interested in football," admits Bibin who moved to the Gulf state 15 years ago. "The strange thing is I have a Qatari friend, Ali, who made one of these pitches for us, he's a nice guy."

The Qatar Cricket Association was not available for interviews during the World Cup, stating that all its employees were busy working on the event, underlining the status the sport currently has here. Cricket pitches in Lusail were closed during the World Cup, as was the national cricket stadium which hosted the FIFA Industrial Fan Zone.

More Qatari cricket enthusiasts like Ali will be needed to secure funding and seriously grow the game, but for now it is already dominating sporting action on the ground, with access to free pitches requiring some self-initiative.

Community cricketers make DIY pitches 

"Ground availability is a problem these days," admits Jhitin. "We have some official grounds but mostly we cannot afford them for friendly matches or tournaments. So we put together something like this."

Players hire friends and equipment to level the surface and pour concrete wickets on these makeshift grounds. But there are risks involved, especially when permission has not been granted by the local municipality. 

"One of my friends put a ground near a roadside which was not supposed to be there and then he got a fine of 12,000 Qatari rial (€3,100/$3,297)" Jhitin reveals.

"We play wherever we have space. To be honest this one is not legal but we don't have another option, so we do it. These are very old grounds, so they're seen as OK."

Cricket is usually played on grass, but here rain washes away sand and causes the surface to become rocky and hazardous.

"It's a little bit dangerous, when you fall you get injured so we have to be careful," says Jhitin.

The informal Friday league is organized by players like Bibin, who get local sponsors involved to help pay for jerseys and equipment. They use opposition players as umpires and scorekeepers, only hiring outside help for final matches.

On this Friday, Bibin's 120 runs see his side comfortably beat Jhitin's Doha Challengers, but players from both teams are all smiles after the match. Despite being rivals here, the two captains play for the same side in their Saturday league.

"I'm happy," says Jhitin with a broad smile. "Bibin is in great form for tomorrow, which is good for me."

Additional reporting by Ali Farhat.

Edited by Chuck Penfold.