ISLAMABAD: Long queues of ticket buyers were seen in front of the selected branches of a courier company, which is selling Champions Trophy’s tickets as the physical tickets’ purchase began here Monday.
A good number of college and university-going students were seen standing for hours to get tickets for the matches to be played at the Pindi Stadium. Rawalpindi will host three Champions Trophy matches — New Zealand against Bangladesh on February 24, Australia vs South Africa on February 25 and then Pakistan vs Bangladesh on February 27.
“I have bought two tickets one for the Pakistan match and the second one for SA against Australia. The two teams will play the Test Championship final and here at the Pindi Stadium it would be a big opportunity to see both the leading teams in action. Pakistan is a host country and we want to see the defending Champions of the Trophy going all the way to retain the title,” a local university student Asif Anees told ‘The News’.
Asif, however, feared that the Pindi Stadium was too small to cater to the needs of cricket-crazy Potohar people who would be eager to watch top cricketing stars live in action at the stadium.
“I don’t think the capacity of around 17,000 spectators would be enough to meet the demands of tickets. We hope that PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi will make efforts to raise a new cricket stadium in Islamabad with a capacity of over 50,000.”
Another youngster Faisal Suleman who was also a part of the long queue waiting to buy tickets for all matches. “We are four members of the family and want to see all matches live at the stadium. It is a rare opportunity to watch some of the best cricketers in action. I am 23 and have never seen Pakistan hosting such a big event. I was yet to be born when Pakistan co-hosted the World Cup in 1996. Now I want to grab this chance to watch all these matches. I have learnt that the Pindi Stadium has been renovated to become spectator-friendly now. There were some problems especially when it came to using washrooms. After the upgradation, I feel the venue will offer the best facilities.”
Hamid Hanif, who was waiting for February 3 for start of the physical purchase of tickets showed excitement at the start of the Champions Trophy. “I am also purchasing tickets for Australia-England match to be played in Lahore on February 22. That will be a cracker of a match — more importantly I want to see the newly upgraded Gaddafi Stadium. Some say that it gives a fascinating look with new lights and gets up on offer to enthrall the crowd. A packed stadium would indeed be an occasion worth watching live.”
Meanwhile, the chairs installation at the Pindi Stadium has been completed. “All the renovation and upgradation work including the installation of chairs in all the stands has been completed now. It is almost ready to host matches now. Though it will not be until February 22 that the venue will host its first Champions Trophy match, by all means, it is now ready to host matches. I think one odd warm-up match is also expected to be played here before start of the Champions Trophy action,” one of the infrastructure development officers, when contacted, said.
