Dubai: Tickets for the Asia Cup are selling fast with cricket fans snapping up the briefs as soon as they are made available on the official platform Platinumlist.
The sale of the first batch of tickets was announced on August 11 and second batch of tickets went on sale on August 30.
The tickets for the India-Pakistan match on September 19 were in huge demand on both occasions.
The organisers have urged fans to use this official platform to acquire tickets to watch their favourite teams in action.
Speaking about the brisk sale of tickets, Mubashir Usmani, general secretary of the Emirates Cricket Board, said: “We encourage fans to use this online booking site to buy their tickets and come and watch their favourite stars and teams in action in what promises to be a scintillating two weeks of top class cricket. Hosting the Asia Cup 2018 here in the UAE is a matter of great pride for us, and so far the response from cricket fans has been tremendous. Tickets sale on the official platform Platinumlist is selling fast.”
The organisers also feel that those buying seasonal tickets will be able to watch India, who would be playing six games in Dubai.
With India in Group A alongside Pakistan and a qualifier team, the chances are that September 19 match may not be the lone match between the two arch-rivals.
India may play six games in Dubai, should they advance to the Super 4 stage and the final of the Asia Cup. The six-team ODI tournament features a total of 13 matches and will be played in both Dubai International stadium and Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Cricket Stadium.
The participating teams will start arriving from September 10 and the Asia Cup will get under way with a contest between former champions Sri Lanka and, 2016 finalists Bangladesh on September 15 at the Dubai International stadium. A huge turnout of fans from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are expected for this match.
The teams on arrival will train at the ICC Academy, which has been renovated.
Commenting on the facilities at the academy, Will Kitchen, general manager of the ICC academy said: “The venue has just finished its renovation period, and we have just re-laid our outfield, so our wickets are almost unused, and the players are going to be accessing the venue at its absolute peak. Our mandate is to make sure that we provide them with the top quality facilities that they expect from our venue and of course our turf particularly our playing surfaces here are exactly the same as the playing surfaces at the stadium, so the surfaces the teams prepare on will be the same as the ones they play on at Dubai International Stadium.”
The sixth team of the Asia Cup is being decided through a Qualifier being held in Malaysia. UAE, with two successive victories, are on course to clinch this slot. The UAE opponents in the Qualifier are Nepal, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Oman. The final for the qualifier is scheduled for September 6.
