Deafening roars penetrating the sky, fluttering flags all around to spur a festivity of colours in the stands, fans shouting themselves hoarse, dancing on drumbeats! Quite rightly, this is the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The aura of splendor and the fanfare unique to Sharjah Stadium is all set to captivate cricket fans all around the world once again. The event is the Coca-Cola Sharjah Cup featuring Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, which kicks-off with the match between two of the Asian giants. The Final of the thirteen-day tournament will be staged on the 20th of April.

All matches of the Coca-Cola Cup are day-night affairs to be played under a double-league system, with each team playing two matches against the other. The two sides topping the points table at the end of the league round of matches will play the final.

According to the original itinerary, India was to compete in the tournament along with Pakistan and Sri Lanka. However, after the refusal of the Indian government to send its team to any non-regular venues for the next three years (including Sharjah), the whole tournament fell into jeopardy. However, a timely invitation to New Zealand and their quick acceptance coupled with guarantee money of US$200,000 soon settled the matter. The winner bags an additional purse of 50,000 US dollars.

Although sub-continental cricket buffs will be deprived of watching India as their absence is a great setback for the organizers, the rise of New Zealand's cricket in recent months ensures that the fans would not miss much of the `fun and games' associated with Sharjah.

The Sharjah based, Cricketers Benefit Fund Series, besides popularizing the game in the Gulf, has rendered yeoman service to cricketers, past and present, by granting US$ 25,000 to US$ 35,000 per beneficiary, as a benefit purse.

Pakistan has just revealed a young team led by speedster Waqar Younis but the other teams two had announced their squads earlier:

Sri Lanka squad:
Sanath Jayasuriya (Captain), Marvan Atapattu, Romesh Kaluwitharana (Wicket-Keeper), Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Kumar Dharmasena, T. M. Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitaharan, Indika de Saram, Thilan Samaraweera, Akalanka Ganegama, Nuwan Soysa, Dilhara Fernando

New Zealand squad:
Craig McMillan (Captain), Matthew Bell, Mathew Sinclair, Chris Nevin (Wicket-Keeper), Lou Vincent, Jacob Oram, Chris Harris, Grant Bradburn, Andre Adams, James Franklin, Brooke Walker, Daryl Tuffey, Kyle Mills,

Pakistan squad:
Waqar Younis (Captain), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Vice-Captain), Imran Farhat, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Abdur Razzaq, Humayun Farhat (Wicket-Keeper), Shoaib Malik, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Imran Nazir, Yasir Arafat, Kashif Raza

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