ANY event whether sporting or political is valued by the number of people in attendance. Here in the UAE, now the home of Pakistan cricket, the facilities have been great in every sense of the word, barring the crowds which have been scant in attendance regardless of the opposition.

In the limited over games prior to this Test series in which Pakistan pulled off a clean sweep in the T20 series and in the ODIs, the attendance was not that bad. But like in previous years in Tests, even when Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka lined up here, there were not many in the stands except on Fridays.

The major work force of the migrant community in this part of the world is involved in earning their bread and in search of better climes which leaves for them little opportunity to indulge in leisurely pastimes and especially the game of cricket which is played over a long duration.

Pakistan, however, have had a good track record over the years against every opponent here, and this series is no different.

People round the world are hooked on instant or T20 cricket, which is kind of fast food of this game, but those who love its purest form still turn up at the grounds, though meager in number.

Times have changed and cricket with all the huge amount of money involved, still have that charm that this game has to offer to the players and those who run it.

The ongoing day-night Test is already in its fourth day today and yet not many have turned out to watch the proceedings, not even on a Friday which is a weekly holiday day in this part of the world.

Pakistan’s Azhar Ali, who scored a triple century here on Friday, deserved packed crowds to celebrate the rare occasion but only a handful turned up. In fact, I should say the crowd matched the score that Pakistan ended up with before declaring the first innings.

And that must have been disappointing for Azhar and the Pakistan team to see empty stands as Azhar bowed down on the ground in prostration to thank the Almighty for the cherished goal that came to him.

In my over four decades of reporting the game I have had the privilege of watching some great feats and landmarks reached including seven triple centuries in Test matches. And I can tell you that this one by Azhar beats all in terms of lack of attendance.

The four triple centuries that I witnessed in Pakistan included one by Mark Taylor in Peshawar, one by Inzamam-ul-Haq in Lahore against New Zealand,one from Virendar Sehwag in Multan and the last one by Younis Khan at Karachi against Sri Lanka which had a sizeable if not a capacity crowd to cheer the achievement.

Outside Pakistan, I was fortunate to see Graham Gooch’s 333 at Lord’s against India in 1990 and Hashim Amla’s triple ton at The Oval.

All of those knocks were greeted with standing ovations and tributes resounded round the grounds to appreciate the landmarks achieved.

Azhar, no doubt is happier that he did join the leagues of the elite 25 batsmen in history who have scored a triple hundred each. Crowd or no crowd, it matters little for him because he certainly has put Pakistan in a very strong position.

However, it is a featherbed of a Test track and played so true even on the third evening of the match. Both Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels presented a straight bat to Pakistan bowlers who clearly struggled for wickets in the first session.But the nature of the game is such that it can change in a matter of minutes and the seemingly dull Test can come alive with the fall of some quick wickets.

Published in Dawn October 16th, 2016