Dubai: The eagerly awaited India-Pakistan match in the T20 Asia Cup is experiencing an unexpected decline in ticket sales, with the sales window still open and tickets being sold at a sluggish rate, even though the match is less than three days away.
Despite the introduction of a single ticket format aimed at enhancing accessibility for buyers, organizers have not observed a notable increase in sales, as the figures continue to lag ahead of the event. India is scheduled to face Pakistan on September 14.
An official from Emirates Cricket suggested that the reduced ticket sales could be attributed to the absence of prominent Indian players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who retired from the shortest format of the game following India's triumph in the T20 World Cup against South Africa last year.
An Emirates Cricket representative informed ANI, "We are astonished that the sales flow for the India vs Pakistan match is significantly low; we have only sold out the lower stands, while the upper and top-tier stands are still available. During the champions trophy for the same match, we sold out twice in a single day—when we opened the ticket window at 2 PM and 4 PM, we were sold out in less than 4 minutes. However, this time the excitement is quite muted, possibly due to the absence of Rohit and Virat."
Fans have taken to social media to voice their dissatisfaction regarding ticket sales, with some urging for single-match tickets to be made available closer to the match date. Nevertheless, premium seats remain excessively priced, costing over Rs 2.5 lakh for just two tickets.
India achieved a decisive victory by nine wickets in their Asia Cup opener against the UAE on Wednesday.India is set to face Oman in their final group stage match on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.Following the group stage, the tournament will advance to the Super 4, where the leading two teams from each group will qualify.
Should India secure the top position in Group A, all of their Super 4 matches will take place in Dubai.If India ends up in second place, one of their Super 4 matches will occur in Abu Dhabi, with the other two in Dubai.The Super 4 phase is scheduled to take place from September 20 to 26.
The final will be held in Dubai on September 28.
