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India-Pakistan match in Dubai: Cricket fans spend up to Dh1,000 for tickets, say it's worth every fil

Some queue for up to eight hours for coveted passes for the highly anticipated event

Published: Wed 17 Aug 2022, 1:29 PM

Updated: Wed 17 Aug 2022, 2:28 PM

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Cricket fans have detailed the extremes they went to for tickets to the highly-anticipated India vs Pakistan match that will be played on August 28 in Dubai. A new batch of tickets for the match that is part of the Asia Cup went on sale at 10am on Wednesday.

A new condition was, however, added to buying the ticket. Fans had to buy tickets to two other games in the tournament to get passes to the India-Pakistan match.

Al Ain resident Shoaib Khan, who works in Dubai, said he logged on to the Platinum List website from multiple computers to get the tickets.

"I queued up on the site from 8am. I saw the update about the ticket sales and opened the website on four computers simultaneously. I got lucky as I managed to buy the tickets within 20 minutes," he told Khaleej Times.

He explained that he shelled out Dh986 to get the tickets, "which is worth half a month of my grocery budget".

"The tickets were available in a bundle of three matches. I will not be able to go for the other two matches and will be giving them away to friends or family members (who can)," said Khan.

He said he would be going to the match with his "lovely wife".

This will be the first time Khan will be watching an India-Pakistan match in the stadium.

"I tried hard to book tickets for the T20 World Cup match, but did not get it."

Shehzada Yousuf, a Dubai resident, said he managed to get one premium ticket after queuing up for two and a half hours.

"I spent way more than I would usually for a match. An India vs Pakistan match happens once in a blue moon, especially in the UAE. Dh1,038 is worth every fil for that experience," he said.

For Yousuf, who has an Indian father and Pakistani mother, there will be celebrations irrespective of who wins.

"I just want to see a nice, tight match."

Dubai resident Abdullah Hafeez was among the few lucky fans who got the tickets in the first batch on August 15. But he had to remain logged in on the website for a good eight hours.

"I had logged in at 10am on August 15. Finally, when the ticket sale went live at 6pm, I had just 400 people waiting ahead of me. I got the tickets in 45 minutes," Hafeez said.

He will be taking his wife to the match, which is a first-time experience for both of them.

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Another expat, Subhash Krishnan, managed to get tickets only for the Super 4 match on September 4. He firmly believes that the sporting rivals will play that match.

"I was following Khaleej Times daily to get updates about the tickets. Once it was announced, I remained in queue for nearly two hours to get the September 4 match. I am eagerly waiting for (what I believe will be) the second match between India and Pakistan in the tournament," he added.



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