UAE residents feel helpless after last-minute ticket requests for India vs Pakistan match

Khaleej Times

22-02-2025

As the cricket world is gearing up for Sunday's high-voltage ICC Champions Trophy clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan at Dubai International Stadium, it's natural for even the biggest stars like Virat Kohli and Babar Azam to feel the pressure.
The stakes and the emotions are so high that even some legendary former players have admitted to switching off their TV sets to block out the noise ahead of the big game.
Well, it's not just the players, even some UAE residents feel the pressure whenever these two South Asian giants clash on these shores.
It's not the same kind of pressure, but it's a headache nevertheless as these residents — cricket coaches and administrators in the UAE — face a big demand for tickets from their friends and relatives.
Inevitably, on most occasions, they are left with no option but to say no to their closest friends — people for who they would normally go out of their way to help.
'When it comes to getting tickets to India-Pakistan matches for our friends, we are helpless,' said Gopal Jasapara, head coach of the Dubai-based G Force Cricket Academy.
'People think it's easy for me to arrange tickets for everyone because I am a cricket coach in Dubai, but it doesn't work that way.'
Jasapara then revealed that even a top former cricket official from India sent him a message, asking for four tickets for Sunday's match in Dubai.
'He was a big name in cricket administration in India once, but now it seems even he can't get tickets for his friends,' Jasapara said.
Meanwhile, Tariq Butt, a former cricket umpire in the UAE who officiated in international matches at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, has once again been flooded with messages from friends.
'These people know that I have retired from the game a long time ago. But they are still asking me for tickets,' he said.
'The craze for an India-Pakistan game has remained the same. I remember in the 1990s, I also got calls from the Consulate General of Pakistan for tickets. We got them a few, but now it's impossible.'
Mohamed Lokhandwala, a former UAE national cricket team manager, was stumped when an ex-India cricketer called him for tickets.
'He is a good friend, and we played club cricket together in Mumbai. Now he is asking for tickets. It's embarrassing when people like them also make this request,' said Lokhandwala before admitting that it has become almost impossible to get tickets online.
'I know a lot of people at our building in Dubai trying to get the online tickets, they got them for India-Bangladesh and India-New Zealand, none of them managed to get a single ticket for the match against Pakistan.'
Mazhar Khan, general manager at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium who saw 'one kilometer-long queues for India-Pakistan tickets in the 1980s and 1990s, doesn't see any change in the situation.
'The demand is such that no cricket administration will be able to solve this because this is India vs Pakistan, the biggest rivalry in cricket,' Khan said.