PCA reports 40% ticket sales on Day 1 for India vs Australia T20I despite recurrent portal glitch  

The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has reported that 40 percent of tickets for the upcoming India-Australia T20I clash at the IS Bindra PCA International Stadium on September 20 have sold out. Fans were granted access to purchase the tickets through the online portal on Monday, September 12.

Tickets were initially slated to go on sale from Sunday, September 11, onwards. However, the date was pushed back by a day after Sunday was declared as a day of national mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Despite the delays and the probing glitches on the online portal, almost half of the 27000-capacity stadium was sold out.

Explaining the structure of ticket sales, Dilsher Khanna, secretary of the PCA, told The Indian Express:

“We have sold around 40 percent of the capacity of the IS Bindra PCA International Stadium through online sales already. This was the first lot of tickets allocated to the online platform on Monday.

"The PCA will offer the remaining 10 percent of the total ticket sales on Tuesday, 10 percent on Wednesday, and 10 percent on Thursday."

The PCA decided to switch their ticket sales completely through an online medium, with the stadium only granting tickets to those who are eligible under the student category. Khanna added:

"The rest 30 percent of tickets are the student tickets, which will be sold through counters at the stadium, and complimentary passes. We will ask the online platforms about the lag/delay in the ticketing process today and hopefully it will be resolved."

The primary glitch saw fans reporting that they were unable to add tickets to their cart after the tickets were released at 11.00 am on Monday.

IS Bindra PCA International Stadium will kickstart the T20I series between India and Australia

The final lap of Team India's preparations for the 2022 T20 World Cup will involve home white-ball series' against Australia and South Africa. The Men in Blue will face Aaron Finch's side in a three-match T20I series before taking on the Proteas in three T20Is and as many ODIs.

IS Bindra International Stadium in Mohali is scheduled to host the India-Australia series opener, while the remaining two matches will take place in Vishakapatnam and Hyderabad.

Australia won their last three T20Is against India away from home, which includes a 2-0 series win here in 2019. However, the last time the two sides played in Mohali in March 2016, India came out victorious.

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