Tickets
for this year’s T20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground (MCG) sold out within five minutes after opening the sale to the
general public on Monday. India’s second group match, to be played at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG),  tickets also sold out on
Monday, though their opponents are yet to be decided.

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The tickets for the T20 World Cup, which will be held between October 16 and November 13 in
Australia, are now on sale to the public after 200,000 tickets were snapped up
during the pre-sale period.

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India
will take on arch-rival in a predicable group-stage match on October 23 at the
MCG. The two countries now play only in ICC events, with no bilateral series
since 2013. The India-Pakistan fixture has always been a big draw for ICC as
this match helps them to draw huge money from broadcasters and sponsors.  The MCG can house more than 90,000
spectators.

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The
T20 World Cup match in Australia is expected to be their first meeting since they last
met at Dubai in the T20 World Cup in 2021. India had lost the match by 10
wickets, that was their first defeat against Pakistan in an ICC World Cup.

ICC
men’s T20 World Cup 2022 Local Organising Committee CEO Michelle Enright said,
“The response from the fans has been fantastic and we’re proud of the fact we
were able to reward our fans who purchased tickets to the postponed event in
2020 and those who registered early with us to get priority access to tickets
in the pre-sale.”

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According
to Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), the body which measures TV
audience, the India-Pakistan game in the 2021 T20 world cup soared up to 167
million viewers on television alone in India. According to the ICC, the
India-Pakistan game in the 2019 ODI world cup had 273 million viewership
worldwide and 50 million digital-only viewers.

It
is the first time that Australia will host the T20 World Cup for men, with
matches to be played in Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth,
and Sydney.

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The
fixture for the event was recently announced with the First Round to get
underway in Geelong and Hobart featuring former champions West Indies and Sri
Lanka, before hosts and defending champions Australia take on New Zealand in
the opening match of the Super 12 at the SCG on Saturday 22 October in a
re-match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 Final.