India-Pakistan match: hottest ticket in cricket sparks T20 World Cup fever

COLOMBO: Excitement was hitting fever pitch in Colombo and across South Asia on Friday after Pakistan relented and decided to play against India in the T20 World Cup, reigniting the most lucrative match in cricket.

The hottest tickets in world cricket were hard to come by, despite Sunday evening’s game in the Sri Lankan capital only being confirmed late on Monday.

The 35,000-capacity R.Premadasa Stadium was sold out, sources told AFP, with tickets going for at least four times face value on the black market.

Hundreds of millions more will watch the match, which has given the tournament a shot in the arm, on television in India, Pakistan and beyond.

Emotions will run high as every ball and shot is cheered or jeered in the high-stakes showdown between the uneasy South Asian neighbours.

Both teams have two wins out of two in Group A, meaning the winner should be assured of a place in the Super Eights round.

The two bitter rivals only meet in global or regional tournaments these days and only on neutral territory.

It has been more than 18 years since India and Pakistan last met in a Test match, and 13 years since either side crossed the border to play a bilateral series.

They met three times in the T20 Asian Cup in Dubai last September, with India triumphant each time, including the final.

The TV audience for Sunday’s clash has been tipped to break all records.

Wild estimates of a billion-plus watching are often bandied about for India v Pakistan games.

However, according to verifiable figures from the International Cricket Council, the most-watched match was the 2011 50-over World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka in Mumbai, which had 558 million unique viewers.

India’s win over Pakistan in the semi-final of that tournament is second, with 495 million.

The match will likely generate multi-millions of dollars in advertising, broadcast rights, sponsorship and tourism.

However, the biggest and most lucrative clash in world cricket was only revived after a frantic weekend of negotiations.

The governments of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka both wrote to their counterpart in Islamabad on Monday urging it to change its stance and allow the game to go ahead. They got their wish just before midnight.

After “multilateral discussions, as well as the request of friendly countries, the Government of Pakistan hereby directs the Pakistan National Cricket Team to take the field on February 15”, the Pakistan government said.

The decision had been taken with the aim of “protecting the spirit of cricket”, it said.

The 20-team tournament had been overshadowed by an acrimonious political build-up.

Bangladesh, who refused to play in India after citing security concerns, were replaced by Scotland.

As a protest, the Pakistan government ordered the team on the eve of the tournament not to face India, which is co-hosting the tournament with Sri Lanka, before relenting eight days later.