PSL ticket sale off to slow start in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Tickets sale for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) Pakistan stage got off to slow start in Islamabad at TCS Express Centre with penalty of higher amount tickets still available for sale while fans are finding it hard to purchase tickets having lesser amount.

The HBL PSL Pakistan stage commences from Thursday, March 7 with a match between Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi at the National Stadium Karachi. The double header match tickets along with play-off matches are now available for sale at 55 different TCS Express Centres in the country at one Centre in Islamabad and three in Rawalpindi.

The prices of tickets for the five matches to be played in Karachi will be from Rs500 to Rs 12,000, while the prices tickets for the three matches to be played in Lahore will be from Rs 1,000 to Rs 12,000.

“We have matches tickets available at our Express Centre. We have also sold good number of tickets today,” TCS representative Fatmah when contacted said.When asked a how many tickets the TCS Islamabad sold altogether Monday, she said she was not authorized to reveal that. Another TCS official on the condition of anonymity said that they have got good number of tickets of higher prize amount available with them.

“It is just a start and hopefully with the time the sale would increase further,” he said. There were no long queues neither there was any urgency on the part of cricket followers to be the first to buy tickets. Cricket fans however have their reservations on the high cost of tickets. “Even last year I bought couple of tickets, paying twelve thousand rupees for two. But we had to sit on chair in open with no facilities of worth mentioning available. Time has come for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to think in terms of putting the earned money back on the stadiums where these matches are being stage. Sadly that has not been the case,” Faisal Suleman who works at a private firm said. He said that if PCB had earned around $ 36 million as a TV rights amount for the next three years, the major chunk should be diverted towards improving facilities at venues where these matches would be planned in future. “There are good chances that from next year onward Pakistan stadiums would host majority of matches. In that case you need improved and renovated stadiums,” he said.