India, Pakistan to play in new ‘Dubai Cup’ Baseball Series

India, Pakistan to play in new ‘Dubai Cup’ Baseball Series
07/12/2017

DUBAI — A new international competition – the Dubai Cup Baseball Series – is being launched and will feature the National Teams of India and Pakistan playing in the “neutral” territory.

DUBAI — A new international competition – the Dubai Cup Baseball Series – is being launched and will feature the Men’s National Teams of India and Pakistan playing in the “neutral” territory.

The two nations will play two games at Sharjah Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on 9 and 10 December.

The series is organized by the Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) under the auspices of the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) and is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and will have implications on the WBSC Baseball World Rankings Presented by ENEOS.

“This Dubai Cup will be fruitful for the promotion of baseball not only in Dubai, but also in whole West Asian Region,” said PFB President Khawar Shah.

The PFB reported that future Dubai Cups will be staged over the long-term.

Baseball, due to return to the Olympic programme in 2020, has been experiencing unprecedented growth, with National Team activity accelerating in emerging territories like Africa and the Middle East.

Earlier this year, the Pakistan Government announced that it will be boosting the country’s baseball programmes domestically and internationally.

On the international stage in 2017, Pakistan played in the World Baseball Classic qualifier and the Asian Baseball Championship, qualifier for the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2018.

India and Pakistan also met at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2016 in Gijang, Korea, with India winning 19-2.