What's new

[VIDEOS] Karachi Crowd Watch!

Empty stands for a Test match versus England, yet this is the first time England is playing a Test in Karachi for 22 years.

What's going on?
 
Saj said:
Empty stands for a Test match versus England, yet this is the first time England is playing a Test in Karachi for 22 years.

What's going on?
Click to expand...

Karachi seems to be dead as a Test/Cricket center - may need a kick in the pants by removing from next series.


jWWT13Y.png
 
I also wonder why? Is Covid still causing concerns there? What are ticket prices like? Perhaps also the public realises Babar Azam apart there is no X factor in this Pakistani team.
 
Pakistanis in general only like to watch white ball cricket. Fact.

Watching cricket in Pakistani stadiums is anyway not a comfortable experience. Pakistanis would take the pain for white ball.

Whatever interest there was in red ball in the past has been erased by the team's turgid, spineless performances.
 
even if its small, theres always a crowd at the other grounds, Karachi consistently doesn't show up for tests. even my mates who support england are like there is literally zero atmosphere, and the difference from the other grounds is noticeable.

have heard numerous reasons for it over the ages, but tbh the only thing that makes sense is karachi ppl are not really interested in cricket anymore.
 
2-0 to England, I guess a lot of people don’t want to pay their hard earned money for a dead rubber after we’ve already lost the series. 1-1 might have seen a few more people. Other than that, it’s the shorter formats most people are interested in.
 
Test matches in the sub-continent are always poorly attended. The SENA nations draw better test crowds because the games are viewed more as a social occasion.

Although it must be said that Karachi’s crowds have been consistently pathetic. No excuse considering it’s a Saturday as well.
 
The reason is very simple. This stadium will continue to be near empty unless an Urduspeaker is made captain of the team.
 
Should remove Karachi from the allocation of the next series at home.

If they cannot be bothered to attend for Tests then why should they get ODIs or T20Is.
 
Ppl in karachi busy with their life, they don't have time to watch boring cricket; they will only show up if Pak start playing bazball
 
Saj said:
Should remove Karachi from the allocation of the next series at home.

If they cannot be bothered to attend for Tests then why should they get ODIs or T20Is.
Click to expand...

absolutely; for a city with 10s of millions of inhabitants Its shocking

Give matches to faisalabad peshawar etc instead
 
Karachi has different dynamics altogether. This is the financial capital of the country. Every person from across the country comes to find a job in Karachi. It's a fast pace city where the struggle of life is very real. People don't have much free time to attend Test matches. They will take their time off for T20s as its a 3 hour entertainment extravaganza but not for ODIs and Tests unless it's a very high profile match. I'm not surprised by the turnout.
 
shariqnoor said:
Karachi has different dynamics altogether. This is the financial capital of the country. Every person from across the country comes to find a job in Karachi. It's a fast pace city where the struggle of life is very real. People don't have much free time to attend Test matches. They will take their time off for T20s as its a 3 hour entertainment extravaganza but not for ODIs and Tests unless it's a very high profile match. I'm not surprised by the turnout.
Click to expand...

Exactly this, Karachi chalta hai toh pura mulk chalta hai
 
Waqar in the commentary box suggested to the PCB to take test matches in Pakistan to the smaller cities and to take the ODIs, T20s to the big cities in Pakistan.
 
Savak said:
Waqar in the commentary box suggested to the PCB to take test matches in Pakistan to the smaller cities and to take the ODIs, T20s to the big cities in Pakistan.
Click to expand...

Yes, cities like Gujranwala, Sialkot, They need to upgrade the stadium there. Gujranwala is a large city , an hour dive from Lahore but didn't host any international match for decades.
 
Saj said:
Should remove Karachi from the allocation of the next series at home.

If they cannot be bothered to attend for Tests then why should they get ODIs or T20Is.
Click to expand...

I am in Karachi at the moment and really wanted to go to see the game with my family. There are two things that have kind of stopped me:
1) i am concerned at walking for 45-50 minutes with my kids before we actually get a seat.
2) there is not a single player from Pakistan that excites me.

I agree with you at taking away future tests from Karachi though.
 
City of lights.

Great cricketing history.

And all that.

Yet empty stadium and they've got a Test match against New Zealand coming up.

Don't allocate matches on past history or fear of a backlash from the local media.
 
Last edited:
shariqnoor said:
Karachi has different dynamics altogether. This is the financial capital of the country. Every person from across the country comes to find a job in Karachi. It's a fast pace city where the struggle of life is very real. People don't have much free time to attend Test matches. They will take their time off for T20s as its a 3 hour entertainment extravaganza but not for ODIs and Tests unless it's a very high profile match. I'm not surprised by the turnout.
Click to expand...

Indian cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore always get good crowds. People in these cities must be jobless to attend Test Matches, only Karachi Wallahs have jobs.

A large metropolitan with large population should actually have better crowds. What do the people even attend if they don't attend National Teams Cricket matches ?
 
Pakistan team and selectors are also to be blamed. Some cricketers are crowd pullers and some are crown repellers and we have many repellers in this team. . Its hard to spare a day and watch an old cricketer playing his charity match with no purpose and another tailender playing in the name of "all rounder" and bowling a grand total of one over .

This is an extremely unattractive team under a brainless , boring captain and team has been losing . Series is already lost, what's their to watch ?
 
boomboomcheema said:
Indian cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore always get good crowds. People in these cities must be jobless to attend Test Matches, only Karachi Wallahs have jobs.

A large metropolitan with large population should actually have better crowds. What do the people even attend if they don't attend National Teams Cricket matches ?
Click to expand...

India treats cricket as a religion. Pakistanis don't. The interest in cricket in Pakistan is not even near to the level it is in India.

I'm a Karachiite. There are so many other issues in the life of a Karachiite that a Test match is way down on the list of priorities.
 
22 years since England played a Test in Karachi.

Bloody hell, proper cricket fans would fill the stadium every day even if it was an England side made up of up and coming players.
 
moghul said:
Pakistan team and selectors are also to be blamed. Some cricketers are crowd pullers and some are crown repellers and we have many repellers in this team. . Its hard to spare a day and watch an old cricketer playing his charity match with no purpose and another tailender playing in the name of "all rounder" and bowling a grand total of one over .

This is an extremely unattractive team under a brainless , boring captain and team has been losing . Series is already lost, what's their to watch ?
Click to expand...

Like saj said proper fans attend games whether the team is attractive or not whether the captain is boring or not, whether you are winning or not

We are posting on here arent we even though the series is lost and it could be a whitewash?

This is a throughly poor from karachi walas and if the venue is taken away from future test series it ll be their own fault
 
When you have mean captain and average team selections people won't even like to watch on tv and entering stadium for watching is a far fetched proposition..
Pakistan pls.selected squad on merit and not on friendship .
 
Saj said:
Empty stands for a Test match versus England, yet this is the first time England is playing a Test in Karachi for 22 years.

What's going on?
Click to expand...

The crowds were poor in Pindi and Multan as well.

It’s almost a perfect experiment.

Karachi was in full attendance in recent t20 matches played between the two sides. Clearly they are interested in watching T20s. In fact even PSL draws a bigger crowd.

Given this evidence, If anything, the empty stands in Karachi confirm that the interest in test cricket has declined massively nation-wide.
 
Look at the brand of cricket and type of cricket Pakistan plays in tests.

This nation is used to seeing fiery pacers like Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Waqar etc and even Afridi as a test bat changed the expectations somewhat of what to expect from a test batter.

They are spoiled by true entertainers and world class performers. So are all of us on here.

Now you have guys deadbatting every ball, a captain who performs only when there’s zero pressure most of the times and is overly defensive on field. No real pacers in the mould of the old guard.

Is it really that surprising?

Can’t blame the crowd to not want to participate in our attritional brand of cricket.
 
Suleiman said:
Look at the brand of cricket and type of cricket Pakistan plays in tests.

This nation is used to seeing fiery pacers like Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Waqar etc and even Afridi as a test bat changed the expectations somewhat of what to expect from a test batter.

They are spoiled by true entertainers and world class performers. So are all of us on here.

Now you have guys deadbatting every ball, a captain who performs only when there’s zero pressure most of the times and is overly defensive on field. No real pacers in the mould of the old guard.

Is it really that surprising?

Can’t blame the crowd to not want to participate in our attritional brand of cricket.
Click to expand...

It is unsurprising but not for the reason you mentioned above.

Interest in Test cricket is in decline globally, and most rapidly in the Subcontinent.

This has nothing to do with brand of cricket. England is playing aggressive brand of cricket, which is cool, but it’s not the reason the fans lost interest in the first place.

Taste in music, film and other forms of entertainment evolve with time. We live in a world of instant gratification and short attention spans. The same Karachi ground was electric in the recent T20 match vs England, which shows that people are just not interested in watching a game that runs over 45 hours. They want to have fun for 3 hours and call it a day. They are looking for instant gratification, excitement, adventure and escape from the mundane.

Cricket is entertainment. People have the right to decide what they are entertained by and they vote through their attention and dollar. Efforts to revive test cricket is going to be futile. These changes in consumer trends are structural in nature and unlikely to be reversed.

I don’t think Test cricket will survive in Pakistan beyond 2030. Only Rich boards will be able to sustain it but they will ultimately give up as well.

Trying to revive test cricket is like trying to revive the newspaper or typewriter. It won’t work. Times change and cricket needs to move on. The new pinnacle is T20 cricket, which also tests players in a different way.
 
Speaking as a Pathan. What are Karachites supposed to do? Take a day off from work or school to watch this pathetic squad? Do you people know how expensive/competitive the educational/work environment of Karachi is?
 
Please ban Karachi from hosting future international matches. Saying this on behalf of 90% karachites who are tired of these fuzool kay matches and traffic jams.

The whole city is blocked for so-called security measures. Patients are dying in ambulances, kids are stuck on the road, and people are getting mugged and killed everywhere but we are more interested in giving the impression that this failed country and city is safe for gori chamri.

If the incompetent security agencies can not hold matches without blocking half of the city then please spare the common man and take international cricket to smaller cities.
 
Why would anyone waste time/money to watch this side play?

Think Karachiwallas are much smarter than we give them credit for

MBqXu42.png
 
Think apart from a few travelling England fans and Barmy Army the stadium will be eerily empty tomorrow morning.
 
I wouldn't go even if I am paid to watch this shambolic Pakistan team play.
Infact, the people in Karachi should have taken it one step further and boycotted the team altogether.

Fans should support their team if it shows some spine, fight and keeps its dignity even in losses but this team's shameless attitude under gutless captain - who is hiding behind one excuse after the other and has his head buried in sand - doesn't deserve any support.

Infact us fans probably feel the humiliation more than the team (and that miserable chairman of the board) which sums up the extent of shamelessness on show.
 
It really isn’t an issue with Karachites, the issue is the user experience at the stadium. It’s not garbage, no one in their right mind is goona pay to sit in a cage and watch a test match. No good options, toilets are disgusting, security hassles, just getting to the stadium is goona take a few hours. So your entire day is easily 12+ hours, what’s the point?
 
Those rows of concrete slabs look pretty uncomfortable to sit on.
 
James said:
Those rows of concrete slabs look pretty uncomfortable to sit on.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are right. Its not even about not having money. The government rather being corrupt and eat it all. Pakistani cricket stadiums are a reflection of the dire economy and the corruption people involved. The public do not know any better know, they are use to below mediocre services and products.
 
MenInG said:
Why would anyone waste time/money to watch this side play?

Think Karachiwallas are much smarter than we give them credit for

MBqXu42.png
Click to expand...

Well done by Karachiites. This dog water team doesn’t deserve to be watched and humiliated live.
 
offstump said:
It really isn’t an issue with Karachites, the issue is the user experience at the stadium. It’s not garbage, no one in their right mind is goona pay to sit in a cage and watch a test match. No good options, toilets are disgusting, security hassles, just getting to the stadium is goona take a few hours. So your entire day is easily 12+ hours, what’s the point?
Click to expand...

This maybe a point The whole stadium is a concrete slab and you are 150-200 meteres away from the middle Its doesnt make for an attractive place to watch the game
 
Either build good quality stadiums and hire good event managers or forget about crowds turning up. If you treat fans like criminals and give them poor viewing experience then the fans won’t turn up. You can’t take your food, or water, or power banks with you. You don’t have clear view of what’s happening on the field. And you have a poor team to support. Abysmal state of affair. On top of everything else, people are being asked to bring the physical copies of their e-tickets! Absolute shambles.
 
Stands are empty despite some of them listed as sold out on the website. Make what you will of that fact.
 
I take comfort that poor attendance is an issue where the finger cannot be pointed at a BCCI or Indian conspiracy
 
I have lived 32 years of my life in Karachi and the life of people living in Karachi is very different to those living in Punjab. Its a very expensive place to live in with 90% living paycheck to paycheck.

Pakistan team lost both the test matches so the interest to watch matches live already decreases add to that the hassle of watching a match. You have to park quite far then take a shuttle then walk for a kilometre or so to reach stadium. You are not allowed any food inside, no powerbanks as well.

Then there was this whole confusion of e-tickets where you had the e-ticket but you still had to take a printout of the ticket. People who bought physical tickets of their e-tickets were told that they had to get it printed from a shop of security people inside the barricades. The whole experience to watch your team play badly in a test match is extremely painful and expensive. Add the cost of food, water, not able to use your phone much because you want to save your battery for the whole day to reach back home.

PCB needs to think like a common man before making all these arrangements. T20 matches had good crowd because of entertainment factor. Why would people want to leave their job or a weekend to go through all the hassle to watch Babar Azam and co like a 2nd grade team.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
shujaatraza said:
I have lived 32 years of my life in Karachi and the life of people living in Karachi is very different to those living in Punjab. Its a very expensive place to live in with 90% living paycheck to paycheck.

Pakistan team lost both the test matches so the interest to watch matches live already decreases add to that the hassle of watching a match. You have to park quite far then take a shuttle then walk for a kilometre or so to reach stadium. You are not allowed any food inside, no powerbanks as well.

Then there was this whole confusion of e-tickets where you had the e-ticket but you still had to take a printout of the ticket. People who bought physical tickets of their e-tickets were told that they had to get it printed from a shop of security people inside the barricades. The whole experience to watch your team play badly in a test match is extremely painful and expensive. Add the cost of food, water, not able to use your phone much because you want to save your battery for the whole day to reach back home.

PCB needs to think like a common man before making all these arrangements. T20 matches had good crowd because of entertainment factor. Why would people want to leave their job or a weekend to go through all the hassle to watch Babar Azam and co like a 2nd grade team.
Click to expand...

Very informative and thanks for that.

PCB seems to be the culprit - they talk about spectator experience but barbed wires etc spoiling views, ticket issues - all add up
 
Going to the National Stadium Karachi in order to watch a test match with these security measures is one of the most painful experience one can have. You are made to feel a 3rd class human being all the way from the moment you embark on the journey to the stadium till the time you get back home. Who would want to bear such hassle to watch such a mediocre contest?
 
I am living in Karachi and had a plan to watch the test Day-2 however, I didn't go there for three reasons

1- last test was dead rubber and the way Pakistan were playing there was no reason to waste my time and money.
2- the Karachi stadium has poor user experience. No one will watch the 8 hour test match if you are not allowed to take outside food and food available in stadium is of low quality.
3- view as a spectator is also poor where you have to watch through 10 feet height fence , no Matter how much you pay.

PCB should try to improve and upgrade their stadiums keeping spectators in mind. Otherwise no one will come to watch.
 
Babar broke a few record today ... and hardly anyone to cheer

sOqC0Me.png
 
The sooner international cricket is taken away from Karachi the better it will be.

They don't deserve international cricket!
 
Saj said:
The sooner international cricket is taken away from Karachi the better it will be.

They don't deserve international cricket!
Click to expand...
Saj bhai..you are a seasoned journalist and been in this field for a while. Very surprised with your comment on Karachi crowd. Go and live in Karachi for a year like a normal middle class guy,maybe watch couple of PSL matches and then see if you would yourself want to watch a cricket test match taking an off day from work or even your weekend.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Went to watch the match today. One of the most painstakingly excruciating experiences of my life. If there was anything more which PCB and organizers could have done to make the experience more tiresome and painful, then I will truly tip my hat to them.

I will not be going again. I made my Karachi based cousins come with me forcibly and I am ashamed and feel bad that they had to go through the zalalat due to me.
 
Saj said:
The sooner international cricket is taken away from Karachi the better it will be.

They don't deserve international cricket!
Click to expand...

They fill up the limited overs games tho. And also bring the most match receipts due to the stadium size so yea that’s not happening f anytime soon
 
Muhammad Kaleem said:
The reason is very simple. This stadium will continue to be near empty unless an Urduspeaker is made captain of the team.
Click to expand...

Karachi these days is less than 40% Urdu speaking and is overrun by Punjabi and Pathan migrants. Why aren’t they showing up if race is an issue?
 
boomboomcheema said:
Indian cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore always get good crowds. People in these cities must be jobless to attend Test Matches, only Karachi Wallahs have jobs.

A large metropolitan with large population should actually have better crowds. What do the people even attend if they don't attend National Teams Cricket matches ?
Click to expand...

Actually they don’t really. That’s why more and more Indian test matches are held in random stalls towns like ranchi, Guwahati, Vishakapatnam, Ahmedabad etc.

Also their team is light years ahead.
 
Another thing; My undergrad soccer team’s stadium in bremen, Germany and grad school’s American football team’s stadium in Austin, Texas (especially this one) we’re light years ahead of the national stadium whether aesthetically, faculties, tech used when entering, you name it . I literally mean light years.
 
Karachi should only ever get T20s. To be honest we should just limit our tests to Pindi, Multan and get a couple of other venues ready like Faisalabad and Hyderabad. Peshawar would be great but lets not expect that any time soon.

Basically no more tests in Karachi. It is abysmal to see an empty stadium
 
Saj said:
The sooner international cricket is taken away from Karachi the better it will be.

They don't deserve international cricket!
Click to expand...

tbf, I wouldn’t go even if they offered free tickets. I’d get a better experience watching it on TV rather than sitting 10-20m away from the boundary line with pillars and cages obstructing your view.


79070565-4915-4A3E-8CC9-B8FBDC79EB1D.jpg
 
YousafTheBeast said:
tbf, I wouldn’t go even if they offered free tickets. I’d get a better experience watching it on TV rather than sitting 10-20m away from the boundary line with pillars and cages obstructing your view.


View attachment 118274
Click to expand...

Wow yeah this could have been Pak v india final in a World Cup but id rather watch from home than sit in this seat! Can’t see a damn thing.
 
Ahmad-GERMANFC said:
Went to watch the match today. One of the most painstakingly excruciating experiences of my life. If there was anything more which PCB and organizers could have done to make the experience more tiresome and painful, then I will truly tip my hat to them.

I will not be going again. I made my Karachi based cousins come with me forcibly and I am ashamed and feel bad that they had to go through the zalalat due to me.
Click to expand...

Add what happened and I will write to PCB hierarchy.
 
shujaatraza said:
Saj bhai..you are a seasoned journalist and been in this field for a while. Very surprised with your comment on Karachi crowd. Go and live in Karachi for a year like a normal middle class guy,maybe watch couple of PSL matches and then see if you would yourself want to watch a cricket test match taking an off day from work or even your weekend.
Click to expand...

Why not?

Unless you specify the reasons then many of us will wonder why the stands are empty for Test matches against teams who haven't been to Pakistan for many many years.
 
Babeikh said:
Karachi should only ever get T20s. To be honest we should just limit our tests to Pindi, Multan and get a couple of other venues ready like Faisalabad and Hyderabad. Peshawar would be great but lets not expect that any time soon.

Basically no more tests in Karachi. It is abysmal to see an empty stadium
Click to expand...

But why should a stadium only get T20Is.

I'd rather those grounds got T20Is that supported Test cricket too.

Why should stadiums and venues be allowed to pick and choose formats.
 
Saj said:
Add what happened and I will write to PCB hierarchy.
Click to expand...

1) the BookMe app or website doesn’t work. Once you get to the cricket page it just freezes. Multiple people ran into that problem. So no way to get a ticket online. It was very unclear what was the other way so what we did was just to show up at the stadium and pray that we found a way there. In 2022 you’d think it would be more efficient and unless you want to get tickets physically, you should ups be able to buy online and print them (I’m not even asking for a online QR code ticket lol)

2) the best way to get the ticket physically (getting it physically is only way) was to go to the empty ground a little further away and get it from the BookMe vans. But this wasn’t made clear anywhere. We figured out on spot. Why not sell the tickets at the stadium entrances? It’s a test match so you know it won’t be a mad rush right.

3) The process to actually get a ticket was painstaking and it was a legit hour from time you reached the stadium to the time you were in the stands despite there being zero rush of spectators. I’d get it if it was sold out and lot of people to manage. Anyways, These were the steps. A) So you get to the stadium, ask around to see what’s the process of getting a ticket. B) You get told to walk to a ground for 15-20 mins to get the tickets physically so you do that. C) then you walk 15-20 mins backs to the specific gate of the stadium. D) You can only go to specific side of the stadium where you gate is rather than enter the stadium and go to the specific gate once inside. Adds 15-20 mins extra. E) there you wait in line and get through eventually.

4) One thing which is annoying but I found funny at the time was that for some reason the security guy at our stand just locked the entrance from outside and disappeared in the tea session so essentially we were locked inside LOL. When he eventually returned we asked what happened and he was like the kids were being rowdy and going in and out so I just locked it LOL. Hilarious
 
Last edited:
Ahmad-GERMANFC said:
1) the BookMe app or website doesn’t work. Once you get to the cricket page it just freezes. Multiple people ran into that problem. So no way to get a ticket online. It was very unclear what was the other way so what we did was just to show up at the stadium and pray that we found a way there. In 2022 you’d think it would be more efficient and unless you want to get tickets physically, you should ups be able to buy online and print them (I’m not even asking for a online QR code ticket lol)

2) the best way to get the ticket physically (getting it physically is only way) was to go to the empty ground a little further away and get it from the BookMe vans. But this wasn’t made clear anywhere. We figured out on spot. Why not sell the tickets at the stadium entrances? It’s a test match so you know it won’t be a mad rush right.

3) The process to actually get a ticket was painstaking and it was a legit hour from time you reached the stadium to the time you were in the stands despite there being zero rush of spectators. I’d get it if it was sold out and lot of people to manage. Anyways, These were the steps. A) So you get to the stadium, ask around to see what’s the process of getting a ticket. B) You get told to walk to a ground for 15-20 mins to get the tickets physically so you do that. C) then you walk 15-20 mins backs to the specific gate of the stadium. D) You can only go to specific side of the stadium where you gate is rather than enter the stadium and go to the specific gate once inside. Adds 15-20 mins extra. E) there you wait in line and get through eventually.

4) One thing which is annoying but I found funny at the time was that for some reason the security guy at our stand just locked the entrance from outside and disappeared in the tea session so essentially we were locked inside LOL. When he eventually returned we asked what happened and he was like the kids were being rowdy and going in and out so I just locked it LOL. Hilarious
Click to expand...

Shocking to read, clearly the PCB had no desire to fill seats in Karachi.
 
Even in the 2000s the test match attendance was fairly down in pakistan stadia. It is well known we dont care much for tests and prefer white ball cricket.

OUr team has to be special to pull in any interest at the moment or to revive the interest. But thanks to our spinless captaincy and management, those chances are absolutely incinerated. We have a bad team, plus the pitches produce dull and drab contests. If the pitches produced quality cricket, our people would still like to go and watch it, I am sure because we appreciate exciting cricket no matter who is playing. But sadly, that is not to be.
 
Pakistans performance recently and the brand of cricket they play, and with the distant views from the seats, there’s not much going for it. In the ODIs hopefully expect more people to turn up.
 
Pretty futile to whine about attendance numbers when one of the flagship Pakistani stadium has antiquated concrete stands which are extremely dirty and disgusting with trash everywhere.

Pakistani fans should be applauded for boycotting cricket. The PCB is not short on money but its continued policy of not improving the fan experience is sinking Pakistan Cricket financially.
 
Ahmad-GERMANFC said:
1) the BookMe app or website doesn’t work. Once you get to the cricket page it just freezes. Multiple people ran into that problem. So no way to get a ticket online. It was very unclear what was the other way so what we did was just to show up at the stadium and pray that we found a way there. In 2022 you’d think it would be more efficient and unless you want to get tickets physically, you should ups be able to buy online and print them (I’m not even asking for a online QR code ticket lol)

2) the best way to get the ticket physically (getting it physically is only way) was to go to the empty ground a little further away and get it from the BookMe vans. But this wasn’t made clear anywhere. We figured out on spot. Why not sell the tickets at the stadium entrances? It’s a test match so you know it won’t be a mad rush right.

3) The process to actually get a ticket was painstaking and it was a legit hour from time you reached the stadium to the time you were in the stands despite there being zero rush of spectators. I’d get it if it was sold out and lot of people to manage. Anyways, These were the steps. A) So you get to the stadium, ask around to see what’s the process of getting a ticket. B) You get told to walk to a ground for 15-20 mins to get the tickets physically so you do that. C) then you walk 15-20 mins backs to the specific gate of the stadium. D) You can only go to specific side of the stadium where you gate is rather than enter the stadium and go to the specific gate once inside. Adds 15-20 mins extra. E) there you wait in line and get through eventually.

4) One thing which is annoying but I found funny at the time was that for some reason the security guy at our stand just locked the entrance from outside and disappeared in the tea session so essentially we were locked inside LOL. When he eventually returned we asked what happened and he was like the kids were being rowdy and going in and out so I just locked it LOL. Hilarious
Click to expand...

As promised. I will send this to pcb.

I cannot promise if anything will change, but it's important pcb realises what's going on.
 
Stewie said:
Even in the 2000s the test match attendance was fairly down in pakistan stadia. It is well known we dont care much for tests and prefer white ball cricket.

OUr team has to be special to pull in any interest at the moment or to revive the interest. But thanks to our spinless captaincy and management, those chances are absolutely incinerated. We have a bad team, plus the pitches produce dull and drab contests. If the pitches produced quality cricket, our people would still like to go and watch it, I am sure because we appreciate exciting cricket no matter who is playing. But sadly, that is not to be.
Click to expand...

To be fair, who has time to be in stadium for 8-10 hours for 5 days? Coming to stadium for Test cricket is unrealistic. People have jobs, schools, families etc.

I think most people check Test scores and not watch the whole thing. Also, you can watch on HD TV with much more comfort.

Dead pitches also do not help.
 
sweep_shot said:
To be fair, who has time to be in stadium for 8-10 hours for 5 days? Coming to stadium for Test cricket is unrealistic. People have jobs, schools, families etc.

I think most people check Test scores and not watch the whole thing. Also, you can watch on HD TV with much more comfort.

Dead pitches also do not help.
Click to expand...

65,000 for the Australia v S Africa first day, so Test cricket is truly alive in some parts of the world.
 
Last edited:
Saj said:
65,000 for the Australia v S Africa first day, so Test cricket is truly alive in some parts of the world.
Click to expand...

If it is a blockbuster series like Australia vs South Africa, sure.

Pakistan vs England or Pakistan vs India can get bigger crowds. New Zealand are a boring team.
 
sweep_shot said:
If it is a blockbuster series like Australia vs South Africa, sure.

Pakistan vs England or Pakistan vs India can get bigger crowds. New Zealand are a boring team.
Click to expand...

Almost every England Test match each summer is a sellout for the first three days; regardless of the opponent, the location or the price. If a good contest is in progress, the fourth and fifth days will often sell out during the match as well. The Ashes in England is always a sellout for the full five days.
 
why not just have the matches at a smaller more convenient test ground in Karachi, preferably something closer to the sea so you can get a breeze to help with swing too.

surely karachi walas would know if there are better grounds around, I'm sure it wouldn't be too expensive to hire for 5 days.
 
Waqar recommended to take test matches to the smaller cities and to take the ODIs, T20s to the largest cities of Pakistan to maximize the crowds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

BouncerGuy
"Pakistan-Afghanistan rivalry is greater than India-Afghanistan": Gulbadin Naib
2
Replies
99
Views
3K
Ball Blazer
Ball Blazer
BouncerGuy
[PICTURES/VIDEOS] "Hundred percent I will play for Pakistan again": Fakhar Zaman
Replies
66
Views
3K
BouncerGuy
BouncerGuy
BouncerGuy
“This is our last Test series in the current ICC World Test Championship cycle, and we would like to finish it on a winning note”: Shan Masood
Replies
12
Views
722
The Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle
BouncerGuy
“We are eagerly looking forward to measure ourselves against South Africa, who have always been one of the top sides in the world": Shan Masood
Replies
5
Views
467
Cricket Warrior
Cricket Warrior
Mamoon
Have Sajid Khan & Noman Ali’s performance proved that Ravichandran Ashwin & Ravindra Jadeja are nothing special?
5 6 7
Replies
517
Views
21K
Buffet
Buffet
Back
Top