The International Cricket Council (ICC) has asked the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to thoroughly investigate the incident of attempts by hundreds of ticketless people attempting to get an entry into the Dubai International Cricket stadium for the Pakistan-Afghanistan ICC T20 World Cup ‘Super 12’ match on Friday night.
Although over 16,000 tickets were issued for the night game between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as per reports, thousands of ticketless fans travelled to the venue and attempted to gain an entry into the stadium forcefully, the ICC said in a statement late on Friday.
Issuing a statement, the ICC said: “More than 16,000 tickets had been issued for tonight’s game between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, thousands of ticketless fans traveled to the venue and then attempted to force entry into the stadium.
More than 16,000 tickets had been issued for tonight’s game between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, thousands of ticketless fans traveled to the venue and then attempted to force entry into the stadium.”
“Dubai Police and security staff secured the stadium to ensure the safety of everyone inside and brought in significant additional resources to disperse the crowd and calm the situation. At approximately 7pm, Dubai Police directed that all gates should remain closed and no further entry was permitted to maintain a safe and controlled environment inside the venue,” it added.
The Global body further said: “The ICC has asked the ECB to undertake a thorough investigation into tonight’s events to learn any lessons and will work closely with authorities to ensure there is no repeat of this situation in the future. The ICC, BCCI and ECB apologise to any fans with valid tickets who were unable to enter the stadium tonight and request they contact the ticket provider.”
Notably on Friday, the Babar Azam-led Pakistan side maintained their winning streak in the showpiece event as they defetaed Afghanistan by five wickets in a thrilling encounter in Dubai. With the victory, the Green Brigade also completed their hat-trick of wins in the Super 12 round and also consolidated their position on top of the Group 2 table.
Chasing 148 for victory, Pakistan rode skipper Babar Azam fifty along with cameo of Asif Ali to cross the finish line with an over to spare.
While Babar top-scored with 51 runs, Fakhar Zaman chipped in with a valuable 25-ball 30.
However, it was Asif’s cameo down the order which helped Pakistan seal their third straight victory. Asif played a scintillating 7-ball 25-run cameo, which was laced with four massive hits into the stands.
Pakistan had earlier defeated arch-rivals India in their campaign opener by 10 wickets before beating New Zealand in their second game.
The Babar Azam-led side will next take on Namibia on November 2 in Abu Dhabi before taking on Scotland in their last league affair at the Sharjah Cricket stadium on November 7.
Meanwhile after Friday’s win over Afghanistan, Pakistan have already sealed a semi-final berth. With three wins from as many games, the Green Brigade currently tops the Group 2 standing with six points in their kitty with a decent Net Run-Rate (NRR) of 0.638.
Afghanistan are placed second in the table with one win from two games.