- Thursday, February 27, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
MORE than 10 months are to go before the ICC T20 World Cup kicks off Down Under but it seems the fans’ excitement has already peaked. Tickets allocated for the mega clash between former champions India and Pakistan in the tournament on October 23 were sold out within five minutes of the counter’s opening, giving a fillip to the organisers.
The encounter between the two arch-rivals will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) exactly a year since they locked horns in a group match in the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year. Pakistan crushed India by 10 wickets in that match to record their first-ever victory over the Men in Blue in any World Cup.
Apart from the high-voltage clash, general ticket allocations were also sold out for the double header of October 27 that features South Africa versus Bangladesh at the Sydney Cricket Ground and India versus the winner of Group A in which the qualifiers will fight for berths in the Super 12.
The sale of tickets comes after 200,000 of them were sold during the pre-sale period across 45 matches that will be played in the World Cup between October 16 and November 13 later this year.
Over 800,000 fans are expected to attend the T20 World Cup which will be held in Australia for the first time and there are still plenty of opportunities for them to get seats for all other fixtures in the general public sale.
Michelle Enright, the tournament’s local organising committee chief executive officer, said: “The response from the fans has been fantastic and we’re proud of the fact we were able to reward our fans who purchased tickets to the postponed event in 2020 and those who registered early with us to get priority access to tickets in the pre-sale.”
The marquee tournament will be held in seven venues, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The final will be held at the MCG.
It was supposed to be held in October-November 2020 but was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Australia won their first crown in the UAE last November when they beat New Zealand by eight wickets in the final.
