Dubai. It was an unprecedented turn out from the UAE cricket fans for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) third and final play-off between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings at the Dubai International stadium on Friday night.
Though the stadium capacity is 25,000, over 27,000 people watched the action, which was labelled as a semi-final of the PSL. With the winner of the contest set to qualify for the final in Lahore, fans turned out in large numbers.
Despite all tickets being sold out, fans waited outside the ticket booths with hope. The PSL organisers had to even close down the online ticket sales.
The largest turn out at this stadium was during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in August 2015.
Speaking to Gulf News, Rajeshree Iyer, Head of Marketing, Dubai Sports City. said: “It was the biggest turn out for PSL here. For Modi’s visit around 35,000 people had come to the stadium. It was the largest turn out ever. For yesterday’s PSL, the rush was such that people had to wait outside without being able to get tickets as all the seats were sold out. The atmosphere was electrifying as fans had a fantastic experience.”
The rush for tickets resulted in police having a tough time to control the crowd with barricades being moved around. In the end thousands of people had to return disappointed without tickets.
“The Lahore Gaddafi stadium capacity is also 25,000 and the same number of people have turned up here (Dubai Stadium) for a play-off,” remarked a Pakistan journalist.
The Sharjah Cricket Stadium play-off matches were also watched by a sell-out crowd proving that PSL’s both editions here has been received well by the UAE fans.
The first edition of the PSL held here last year reaped a profit of $2.6 million.
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