The first
ODI cricket match played here was between
Australia and
Pakistan on April 22, 2009; it was won by Pakistan. The stadium's first player to take a
five-wicket haul was
Shahid Afridi with 6/38, which was his career best figures at the time. The top score at this stadium is 302* is held by
Azhar Ali against West Indies in 2016. The stadium hosted its first Test match when Pakistan played South Africa on 12–16 November 2010; the match resulted in a draw. The November 2010 ODI series between
Pakistan and
South Africa ended with a 3–2 series win for South Africa. South Africa sealed the series with a 57 run win against Pakistan. Pakistan held a series against New Zealand and one Twenty20 International against England. This followed with a five-match ODI series of which three matches were played at this stadium. The second match in the stadium was also the last match by Australian international all-rounder
Andrew Symonds. In 2012 Pakistan met England in the first test at Dubai. Pakistan won it easily, by 10 wickets.
Saeed Ajmal was the Man-of-the-Match, after his outstanding
10 wicket haul. In 2012 in mid-August Pakistan played three T20s against Australia, which was a grand success, just before the ICC World T20, including a super over in the final match, which Pakistan won. In 2014, The
2014 Indian Premier League tournament was held in the stadium along with
Zayed Cricket Stadium and
Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium. After that, the tournament shifted back to homeland
India. In September 2019, it was named as one of the venues to host cricket matches for the
2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament. Along with Abu Dhabi and Sharjah the stadium was used to host the IPL 2020 as well as the second half of the 2021 tournament after it was initially postponed following a
COVID-19 outbreak in India. In IPL 2020 Dubai International Stadium played host to the final as Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals and in 2021 Chennai Super Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders in the finals. The pitch conditions for T20 cricket in Dubai were significantly improved during IPL 2020, witnessed by a higher average T20 score in Dubai in that tournament by comparison to matches in the past. ==Lighting system==