COLOMBO: Demand for tickets to Sunday’s blockbuster ICC T20 World Cup clash between arch-rivals Pakistan and India has sent Colombo into a frenzy days before the first ball at the R Premadasa Stadium. The news reported.
A visit to the stadium ticket offices on Thursday showed long, restless lines still forming outside the counters even though officials said the game had already sold out.
“We don’t have tickets available for the game on Sunday. I don’t know why the fans are still queuing,” said one of the attendees at the stand. “The entire 37,000-capacity stadium was sold out yesterday. Most of the tickets were purchased online.”
Interestingly, there were no visible ‘Sold Out’ signs on the counters, adding to the confusion among fans who had traveled from different parts of Sri Lanka and even abroad in the hope of getting last-minute entry passes.
“We have not received any instructions from the organizers to post a sold-out notice,” clarified another stand official when asked about the lack of public information.
The cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan, often called “the mother of all battles”, has historically shattered ticket sales records wherever it has been held, from Melbourne to Manchester, from Dubai to New York. Colombo is no exception. In fact, this is the first time that Sri Lanka is hosting a T20 World Cup encounter between the two cricketing giants, making the occasion even more historic and emotionally charged.
Hotels in the city are reportedly operating at almost full capacity, while airline bookings from Karachi, Lahore, Delhi and Mumbai surged earlier this week. Local transportation services and street vendors around the stadium are also preparing for unprecedented activity on game day.
However, where demand soars, opportunists follow.
The black market has already begun to operate discreetly on campus and on online platforms. According to local sources, tickets originally priced at Rs 500 are expected to fetch between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 or even more on the day of the match.
“You will see a 500 rupees ticket that will be sold for 10,000 rupees on Sunday,” said a local organizer on condition of anonymity. “People bought tickets in bulk through online portals. Now they will resell them at huge profits.”
Authorities are expected to increase security around the stadium to curb illegal reselling, but experience suggests that controlling the clandestine ticket trade during a match between India and Pakistan is not an easy task.
For many fans, however, price is secondary to passion. The opportunity to witness Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan and Babar Azam take on India’s formidable bowling attack, or watch the Indian batsmen take on Pakistan’s pace battery under the lights at Premadasa, is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
