Dubai International Stadium pitch report: records, stats and India’s unbeaten ODI run
A T20I par of about 147 that has barely moved since 2009, a chase edge in ODIs and an India side that has never lost an ODI here: the Dubai pitch report and records in full.
Oct 23, 2021 · Updated Sep 27, 2026
At the Dubai International Cricket Stadium a first-innings T20I total of about 147 has been par for 17 years, and the side batting second has much the better of the ODI record. India have also never lost an ODI here: 11 played, 10 won, one tied.
The numbers below are derived from the full match record for every men’s Test, ODI and T20I played at the ground, plus every IPL game staged here. Where a figure depends on how the match list is filtered, the filter is stated.
Dubai International Stadium at a glance
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Opened | 2009 |
| Capacity | 25,000 |
| Floodlights | 350 lights in the roof rim (the “Ring of Fire”), no pylons |
| First ODI | 22 April 2009, Pakistan v Australia |
| First Test | 12 November 2010, Pakistan v South Africa |
| Men’s internationals | 13 Tests, 66 ODIs, 109 T20Is |
| IPL matches | 46 (2014, 2020, 2021) |
There are no floodlight towers. The lights run in a continuous ring around the roof, which cuts down the multiple shadows players get under pylons.
Dubai International Stadium pitch report: what is a par score?
In T20Is the answer has barely moved since the ground opened. Across the 58 completed matches played here between 2010 and 2019, the side batting first averaged 145.6. Across the 46 since 2020 it is 147.4.
| Format and period | Matches | 1st-inns average | Bat first W-L |
|---|---|---|---|
| T20Is, 2010-19 | 58 | 145.6 | 32-26 |
| T20Is, 2020 onwards | 46 | 147.4 | 20-26 |
| ODIs, 2010-19 | 30 | 229.7 | 12-18 |
| ODIs, 2020 onwards | 32 | 214.9 | 13-19 |
The ODI line is the one to take into a match. Across all 66 ODIs the side batting first has won 25 and lost 39, with a tie and a no-result. That chase edge holds in both halves of the ground’s life. First-innings totals are modest too, averaging 215 to 230, so a chasing side here is rarely asked for much more than five an over.
T20Is are level overall: 54 wins for the side batting first, 53 for the chasers and two ties. The overall figure hides how much it depends on the tournament, though.
The 2021 T20 World Cup: 12 chases out of 13
At the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup, the side batting second won 12 of the 13 matches played here, and the first-innings average was just 130.4. Twelve of the 13 captains who won the toss chose to field, and 11 of them won the match.
The final followed the pattern. New Zealand made 172 for 4, and Australia, having put them in, got home by eight wickets with seven balls to spare on 14 November 2021, Mitchell Marsh making 77 not out from 50 balls.
The other T20 tournaments here have been less extreme. At the 2022 Asia Cup the chasers won six of nine; at the 2025 Asia Cup it was six of 11, with four wins for the side batting first and one tie.
IPL record at Dubai
The IPL has come to Dubai three times, and the ground behaved differently each time.
| Season | Matches | 1st-inns average | Bat first W-L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 7 | 148.9 | 3-4 |
| 2020 | 26 | 170.7 | 14-9 |
| 2021 | 13 | 156.2 | 4-9 |
The 2020 figures exclude three tied games that went to a Super Over. In 2020 the side batting first had the edge, and six totals of 200 or more were made here that season. By the second half of the 2021 season, played in September and October with the World Cup to follow, the chase had taken over.
One number holds across all 46 IPL games: winning the toss has not helped. The toss-winner won only 18 of them. Captains still chose to field 27 times out of 46.
India at Dubai: unbeaten in ODIs
India have played 11 ODIs at the Dubai International Stadium and won 10 of them. The other, against Afghanistan at the 2018 Asia Cup, was a tie. They won the 2018 Asia Cup final here, beating Bangladesh by three wickets off the last ball, and all five of their games at the 2025 Champions Trophy, including the final against New Zealand on 9 March 2025, won by four wickets with an over to spare.
| Format | Played | Won | Lost / tied |
|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 11 | 10 | 0 / 1 |
| T20Is | 15 | 10 | 4 / 1 |
The T20I record is less tidy. India lost to Pakistan and New Zealand here at the 2021 World Cup, and to Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the 2022 Asia Cup. They then went through the 2025 Asia Cup unbeaten at this ground, with the tie against Sri Lanka settled in India’s favour in a Super Over and the final won by five wickets against Pakistan on 28 September 2025, Tilak Varma finishing 69 not out.
Test records at Dubai
All 13 Tests here involved Pakistan, who used the ground as a home venue between 2010 and 2018. They won seven, lost three and drew three.
| Record | Figure | Team / player | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest total | 579/3d | Pakistan | v West Indies, 2016 |
| Lowest total | 90 | New Zealand | v Pakistan, 2018 |
| Highest score | 302* | Azhar Ali | v West Indies, 2016 |
| Best bowling | 8/41 | Yasir Shah | v New Zealand, 2018 |
Azhar Ali’s 302 not out in October 2016 was the first triple hundred in a day-night Test. Devendra Bishoo took 8/49 in the same match, the second-best innings figures at the ground.
ODI records at Dubai
| Record | Figure | Team / player | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest total | 355/5 | England | v Pakistan, 2015 |
| Lowest total | 49 | UAE | v USA, 2025 |
| Highest score | 144 | Mushfiqur Rahim | v Sri Lanka, 2018 |
| Best bowling | 6/27 | Harmeet Singh (USA) | v Nepal, 2025 |
T20I records at Dubai
| Record | Figure | Team / player | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest total | 212/2 | India | v Afghanistan, 2022 |
| Lowest total | 55 | West Indies | v England, 2021 |
| Highest score | 122* | Virat Kohli | v Afghanistan, 2022 |
| Best bowling | 5/4 | B Kumar | v Afghanistan, 2022 |
Three of the four records came in one match. On 8 September 2022 Kohli made 122 not out from 61 balls, his first T20I hundred and his first international century in more than 1,000 days, and Bhuvneshwar then took five wickets for four runs as India won by 101 runs.
IPL records at Dubai
| Record | Figure | Team | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest total | 219/2 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | v Delhi, 2020 |
| Lowest all-out total | 109 | Royal Challengers | v Punjab, 2020 |
| Highest chase | 181/0 | Chennai Super Kings | v Punjab, 2020 |
Chennai’s chase of 179 without losing a wicket in October 2020 is still the biggest successful run chase in an IPL match at the ground.
Finals played at Dubai
Dubai is now the usual neutral venue for Asian and ICC finals. It has hosted the 2018, 2022 and 2025 Asia Cup finals, the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup final, the 2024 women’s T20 World Cup final, in which New Zealand beat South Africa by 32 runs, and the 2025 Champions Trophy final. Sri Lanka’s 23-run win over Pakistan in 2022 came after they had been 58 for 5, and Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s 71 not out lifted them to 170.
For comparison with the other UAE grounds, see our Sheikh Zayed Stadium records in Abu Dhabi and the Sharjah Cricket Stadium pitch report. Dubai’s IPL par sits alongside every Indian venue in our IPL pitch report by ground, and Kohli’s hundred here is one of the milestones in our Virat Kohli records page.