Fans and experts blame the hot weather and lingering tensions between the two countries for dozens of unsold tickets.
Released on September 14th, 2025
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Hundreds of tickets for the India vs Pakistan cricket match at Dubai’s Asian Cup 2025 remained out of the morning of equipment.
6:30pm (14:30 GMT) Eight hours before the game began, tickets were available on Sunday in three stands, and the hospitality section of Dubai International Cricket Stadium was available on the tournament’s official ticket website.
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Tickets priced at $205 at the Premium Stand and $245 at the Eastern and West Pavilion Stands were available for dozens of people.
The seats were also available at one of several hospitality stands and cost $1,645.
Tournament organizers, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the Emirates Cricket Committee (ECB), have not officially commented on the unsold tickets, but local fans have denounced the hot weather in the Gulf as a major disappointment.
“September is one of the hottest months in this part of the world, with high temperatures and extreme humidity that makes it difficult to stay outdoors even in the evening,” Shahid Khan, a resident of Dubai, told Al Jazeera.
“Players may get rewarded to play in this weather, but fans have to spend a lot of money to buy tickets. Why do they do that to suffer in the heat?”
The evening temperature near the start of the match is predicted at 36c (95f), with humidity reaching 50%.
Al Jazeera contacted the ACC, but was told that the official ticket sales figures were confirmed as soon as the match began and that no comments would be made on previous sales.
Cricket experts believe that very tense political ties between India and Pakistan, which were involved in the four-day intense cross-border conflict in May, will also be condemned.
“Some fans have decided to boycott the fixture in order to protest the government’s decision to move on to the match despite the continued bitterness towards their neighbors,” Indian cricket writer Kurdip Lal told Al Jazeera at the front of the match.
It is not uncommon to find vacant seats in UAE cricket matches, but tickets to Indian-Pakistan men’s cricket matches in any part of the world are sold in most cases like pancakes.
Tickets usually sell out within hours of being sold, especially at global and regional tournaments such as the ICC World Cup and the Asian Cup.
Fans are known to spend extremely long hours getting tickets, including paying high premiums on resale platforms and black markets.
