The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced to refund match tickets bought for children under the age of 12 for the ongoing Karachi-led of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Issuing a statament, the PCB said: “The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) in its 10 January decision had limited crowd attendance to 25 per cent for the Karachi-leg matches and only allowed fully vaccinated individuals above the age of 12 years, whereas based on previous guidance of permitting 100% spectators PCB had initiated sale of tickets on 11th January.”
The board said that full refund for tickets bought for children under the age of 12 will be made which can be claimed till 12pm (midnight) Sunday, 30 January.
Earlier, the NCOC had allowed 8,000 spectators (25 percent) crowd attendance for the Karachi-leg PSL matches and had barred children under the age of 12 from entering the stadium. The Karachi-leg will stage PSL matches from January 27 and February 7 before it moves to Lahore.
It was also announced that to ensure the health and safety of all the players and the attendees, the spectators’ entry will be subject to strict Covid-19 protocols.
As per the protocols, individuals above the age of 12 years must be fully vaccinated, valid vaccination certificates must be shown at the time gaining access to the stadium, wearing of masks inside the venue will be mandatory and violating the NCOC guidelines shall be liable to be evicted out of the stadium.
Commenting on the development, PCB Chief Operating Officer and HBL PSL Tournament Director Salman Naseer had said: “Spectators are the essence of any sport event and in this background, we now hope to set the stage with 25 per cent crowds to attend the Karachi matches of the HBL PSL 2022. As a responsible organisation, we completely understand our obligations in relation to health and safety of the fans and will leave no stone unturned in strictly implementing the NCOC guidelines.”
“However, we will also require complete and unconditional support from the spectators so that they and others can continue to enjoy the matches in a safe and secure environment. This is something they can do by simply following the guidelines,” he had added.
Meanwhile, the PCB had said that the NCOC will make a decision on the Lahore-leg matches, scheduled in the Gaddafi stadium between 10-27 February, in the coming time.
Both the Karachi and Loahore-led is scheduled to host 15 matches each.
On Friday, the second day of the ongoing Karachi-leg, Quetta Gladiators had defeated Peshawar Zalmi by five wicktes.
Asked to bat, the Gladiators opener Ahsan Ali’s (73) and Will Smeed (97) shared a 155-run partnership to help their side post a challenging 190/4 in the allotted 20 overs. Notably, the 155-run opening stand was also the highest partnership for the Gladiators in PSL history.
In reply, the Zalmi were once reeling at 73/3 in, thanks to Mohammad Nawaz (3/44), before a scintillating 29-ball 52 from Hussain Talat and a powerful finish by stand-by captain Shoaib Malik (48* off 32) helped their side chase 191 with two deliveries to spare.
The Multan Sultans, which had Karachi Kings in the tournament opener by seven wickets, will next face Lahore Qalandars in the third match on Saturday.