There was a definite subcontinental feel to the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, a makeshift venue designed to showcase the best of T20 cricket to New York and to the United States.
The occasion was the T20 World Cup, the date 9 June 2024, the protagonists India and Pakistan.
Almost every seat of the 34,000 was occupied, the beat of drums and the waving of flags-the tricolour dominating the landscape-making it hard to believe that one was in Long Island. The surface made for an attritional contest, with India edging a low-scoring thriller by six runs; as an advertisement for the 20-over format, it was hardly edifying, but hey, who was complaining at the time?
Some eight and a half months later, the sides squared off again in a global tournament, this time at the 50-over Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) on 23 February 2025. Predictably, the response was overwhelming. Tickets were snapped up within four minutes of going on sale as fans, especially from India, made a beeline for Dubai. The match almost lived up to the hype until Virat Kohli, the master of the chase, made it one-way traffic with a typically unflustered unbeaten century.
A little over 48 hours hence, India and Pakistan will renew a rivalry that has now officially been reduced to only continental and global events following a policy decision from the Indian government. On Sunday, Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Agha, both in the early stages of their captaincy stints, will lead their respective sides out in a Group A fixture of the T20 Asia Cup, also at the DICS. The imminent faceoff has set off a multitude of emotions and opinions, coming as it does against the backdrop of the dastardly April 22 Pahalgam attack on innocent tourists. But while interest is at its peak, as it invariably is when the neighbours square off in a cricketing showdown, that has not translated into a frenzied rush for tickets.
Multiple reasons have been proffered for the tepid sales, ranging from the exorbitantly steep prices for ‘premium’ seats to the sweltering heat (at 1 am on Friday, the temperature was a whopping 34 degrees Celsius and the lowest maximum temperature since the Indians landed here a little over a week back has been 38 C) to the absence of two of India’s greatest white-ball batters, Kohli and Rohit Sharma, both retired from international T20s. More than one, possibly all, of these factors has contributed to a relative lack of buzz; perhaps that will change the closer one gets to the start of the game (8 pm IST on Sunday), but don’t hold your breath.
Pakistan have been in the Emirates for more than three weeks, using a triangular series against Afghanistan and UAE that ended in triumph on Sunday in Sharjah as a preparatory exercise. The introduction of bucket seats at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium has reduced its capacity to 16,000; full houses greeted the two Pakistan-Afghanistan league matches and the title clash, but the other matches were poorly attended despite the home team being in action.
When it is bursting at the seams, the DICS can accommodate 25,000 spectators but at the time of writing, a decent percentage of those tickets is still up for grabs. The General East Lower and Upper tickets, officially priced between 50 and 150 dirhams (approximately ₹1,200 and ₹3,600 respectively) disappeared like hot cakes, but the more expensive tickets that range from 750 to 900 dirhams (app ₹18,000 to ₹21,640) are still available, as is the near-prohibitive Grand Lounge Hospitality Pass, which will set one’s pocket back by 3,500 dirhams (app ₹84,150), according to the official ticketing website. Maybe some of the remaining tickets will attract last-minute buyers, but as things stand now, a full house will come as a pleasant surprise to the organisers.
The stadium was no more than a third occupied during India’s annihilation of UAE on Wednesday night. There was pomp and energy, as is to be expected from even the smallest bunch of Indian spectators, but the heat was a dampener, if that makes sense, to protracted exuberant celebrations. Without a doubt, Kohli and Rohit – the former more than the latter, one suspects – being MIA has had an impact, never mind that in Abhishek Sharma, India boast the No. 1 T20I batter in the world who headlines a powerful, exciting batting line-up.
India-Pakistan is, of course, vastly different from India-UAE, especially given the drastically altered geo-political equations. But seldom has one witnessed this level of spectator apathy this close to a high-profile contest between these two giants.