The Famous Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Published on 10 Jul 2025

Abu Dhabi is known for its high rise and huge towering structures beyond your imagination. The modern residential buildings of the Emirate are admired all over the world for its great architecture. As a matter of fact, tourists are overwhelmed by the contrast of greenery that the city has in store for them. This beautiful city in the Far East has a plenty of attractions for the tourists to explode. The city begins to win heart as soon as you land at Abu Dhabi airport. The decor of the city is truly amazing. As you reach the city you can see a lot of attraction that includes various museums, forts, galleries, and Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. All these attractions give you an insight into the cultural heritage of this amazing City. The traditional show and sports galleries of the city show you how connected the people of Abu Dhabi are towards art and sports.

The vast desert areas of Abu Dhabi have always been a favourite spot for the people belonging to the tribal groups. They involve themselves in different sports activities during their free time. Many of these sports have been continuing from past decades and are passing from generations to generations. These traditional sports are namely falconry, camel racing, dhow racing, hunting with Saluki dogs and many others. The modern sports include cricket, football, golf, tennis, chess, motorsports, snooker, Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and many others.

The sport is the main activity for the Emirates people. The main motive of sports in Abu Dhabi is to inspire and motivate both the residents and the visitors. The motivation is mainly done to instruct, coach, observe, examine and compete with other people of the Emirates. There are a large number of cricket stadiums in the country. To name a few are Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, the Al Jazira Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, the Ajman Oval and the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Among them, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi steals the attention. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium is a cricket ground located in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The cricket is the second most popular sport in the United Arab Emirates, football being the most popular game.

It is always better to know in details about the place before visiting there. So, let’s have some knowledge about the impressive Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Location and Other Necessary Details

Source – Photograph by gudstory.com

Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium opened its doors to the public in May 2004. The total construction cost of this marvellous cricket stadium amounted to 23 million US Dollars. The inauguration of the stadium was Intercontinental Cup Fixture between Scotland and Kenya. This extraordinary cricket match was held in November 2004.

Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium is located near 19th Street on Sas Al Nakhl Area. This is situated in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi. The splendid cricket stadium is located in a faraway and lonely area. However, it is just only 30 minutes’ drive from the heart of the busy city.

Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium is operated by Pakistan Cricket Board. The officials named the cricket stadium after the former President of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

About the Stadium

Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium has one of the finest cricket grounds of the world. The designers styled the magnificent stadium in European style. The massive cricket stadium has the ability to accommodate around 20, 000 spectators. Each seat from the gallery provides a perfect view of the match and the stadium. Moreover, the wonderful carpeted grass banks in the stadium provide ample space for the additional seating arrangement. The only disadvantage is that these grass banks have no shade. These grass banks do not catch much attention in the never-ending sunshine. It is better to carry umbrellas and sunglasses during the daytime, considering the scorching heat of the sun.

The 2 large stands control and rule the stadium, with the areas square of the wicket. The stands are situated on either end of the stadium. The massive stadium has 2 ends- North End and Pavilion End.

The splendid Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium is equipped with standard quality light columns and pillars. These lights illuminate the whole stadium and draw attention from the public. In addition, the wonderful stadium also has glass rooms. The internal temperature of these glass rooms is artificially controlled. The teams use to watch the matches from these air-conditioned glass rooms.

The pitch at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium is in all respects very hard. This makes it a great advantage and favourable opportunity for the bowlers. The grassy banks on either side of the pitch make the modest stadium looks green and beautiful.

The wickets are a bit on the slow side. This aids the batsmen to score centuries. For this reason, the players have scored 4 double centuries in 7 brilliant matches in the wonderful Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan has sponsored the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

Matches

The impressive Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium organises a large number of significant and unforgettable matches such as back-to-back charity matches. The officials use the funds raised through these types of matches to assist the affected victims. The higher authorities and officials have arranged numerous international series in this beautiful stadium.

Each season, 70 teams compete in 500 matches in Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Parking, Rules and Other Necessary Details

It is very much necessary for the visitors to follow the rules and regulations while visiting Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. The magnificent stadium provides its visitors and spectators with wonderful catering services. It is advised not to carry outside foods and drinks. Cameras are not allowed inside the stadium. So, it’s better to leave them in your hotels and home. The experienced tour guides will escort the visitors throughout the visit and inform them about the details of every rule in the stadium.

Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium provides a vast area for parking cars. So, the visitors to this splendid stadium do not have a problem with parking the cars.

The visitors approximately need 3 hours to roam around this vast stadium. On the other hand, the entry is free of charge for every visitor visiting there.

Recent Investments

Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium has gone through renovations to enhance its facilities. The renovations and investments were mainly done to prepare this massive stadium for another purpose. Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium will not limit itself to cricket only. Rather, it will include the following benefits-

New Yoga and Pilates Studio
5 * Table Tennis Tables
New Spin Cycle Studio
2 * Squash Courts
4 * Multi-purpose courts for basketball, tennis, and netballs.

Additionally, Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium provides coaching facilities to a large number of various groups, schools, and clubs. In other words, Abu Dhabi Cricket finds its home in this massive stadium. The trainers will coach the youngsters with touch rugby, football, netball, squash, tennis, basketball and many more. It is a training institute for a large number of people to develop their skills.

Ending Words

The Emirates people are very enthusiastic about their second popular sport, the cricket. Abu Dhabi is well known as the global sports platform. It provides excellent services and skilled, experienced and non-professional sporting events. If you are a cricket enthusiast, then this impressive Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium is a must visit place in Abu Dhabi. The magnificent stadium will attract the cricket lovers with its amazing structure and arrangement. Besides, it will continue to lure the non-lovers of cricket with its magnificent style and glory. Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium provides all sorts of comforts to its spectators and visitors. The stadium is among one of the most admired destinations for modern cricket in the United Arab Emirates. Next time, when you visit Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium should be on your priority list.

We come across many visitors coming to the city for their business summits and other corporate engagements. They often desire to merge their corporate stays in the city with a customised travel plan for them. TravelPlanDubai does the same for solo and family travellers. You can join in our travel programs with your friends and we will tailor-make your trip as per your availability.

Our services include picking you up in air-conditioned cars from your hotels and dropping you off at your hotels at the end of the day.

So, are you planning an exciting weekend break with your loved ones? Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates is a perfect destination for a perfect weekend getaway. The city is popular for its gardens, shopping malls, high-rise and traditional buildings, Mosque, beaches, theme parks and many other attractions. Abu Dhabi has transformed as one of the most expensive and well-planned cities in the UAE offering great tourist attractions. You can plan your weekend breaks to this exciting destination for unlimited fun and thrilling entertainment.