“Expect that India-Pakistan game to be sold out” - Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games CEO  

Birmingham Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 CEO Ian Reid has asserted that he expects a sell-out crowd for the India vs. Pakistan women’s cricket fixture. Reid revealed that the tickets for the semi-finals and the finals have already been sold out.

Women’s cricket will make its debut at the upcoming Commonwealth Games, which begins in Birmingham on July 28. The matches will be played in a T20 format. The much-hyped India vs Pakistan clash will be held at Edgbaston on July 31.

Speaking to PTI, Birmingham Games CEO Reid opened up about the excitement for the Indo-Pak encounter. He said:

"I am a big cricket fan myself. India are in the same group as Pakistan so that has really caught the interest here in Birmingham. It is an iconic venue, your men's team recently played here over the last few weeks. So it would certainly be one of the highlights of the Games."

Sharing details about ticket sales for the cricket matches, he added:

"The semifinals and final tickets have already been sold out, probably with the expectation that India and England will be there. India and Pakistan will be close to capacity. We will see an uptick in sale of tickets much closer to the event. So I expect that India-Pakistan game to be sold out soon."

It must be noted that the city of Birmingham is home to a fair share of people of Indian and Pakistani origin.

During the interaction, Reid also revealed that a total of 1.2 million tickets have been sold for the Commonwealth Games, adding that the organizers expect the numbers to go up in the coming days.

---

India Women’s squad for 2022 Commonwealth Games

The BCCI had announced the India Women’s squad for CWG 2022 earlier this month. Bowling all-rounder Sneh Rana, keeper Taniya Bhatia and batter Harleen Deol have been included in the 15-member squad.

Rana makes a comeback after being left out of the series in Sri Lanka. Taniya has been picked as one of the two keeping options with Yastika Bhatia. Taniya’s last T20I encounter for India was the World Cup final against Australia in Melbourne in March 2020. As for Harleen, she played the ODIs in Sri Lanka but not the T20Is.

The Indian team will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur, with experienced opener Smriti Mandhana being the vice-captain.

Eight teams will be taking part in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. India Women have been placed in Group A with Australia, Pakistan and Barbados.

The Indians will begin their CWG 2022 campaign with a game against Australia on July 29. They will next take on Pakistan on July 31. Their last group game will be against Barbados on August 3.

---

India’s women’s squad for CWG 2022: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Sabbhineni Meghana, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana

Standby players: Richa Ghosh, Simran Bahadur, Poonam Yadav