LONDON: Despite Bangladesh’s obsession with cricket, it used to be football that they most craved for. Unlike India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, football used to be the game that was of most interest to the nation. In some parts, football is still revered, despite the Tigers’ roar getting louder by the year.
Unlike the Pakistani and Indian population settled in the UK, you won’t come across a Bangladeshi who celebrates cricket the way the sub-continental fans do. For them, it is still football, and living in a land where it is the single-most popular sport, it is understandable when they say, “Our cricket team still has a lot to do. We are just growing as a team. But football is what we love.”
When one thinks of Bangladesh, the first thing that comes to mind is their passionate fans, who remind us of Indians in the 1980’s and 90s. With Bangladesh making an unexpected entry into the semifinal, there is now a growing demand for tickets among locals for their match against India in Birmingham on Thursday. The organisers have been stumped by this.
When ICC put tickets for sale, most of them were picked up by Indians as they were expected to top the group and play in Birmingham. Though none of them knew who the other team will be, it is understood that a lot of Australian, Kiwi and South African nationals had bought tickets for the match. Now, the local Bangladeshi population is knocking on the doors of ICC to release some tickets.
Ayaz Karim, secretary of the Bangladesh Cricket Supporters Association of the UK region, is witnessing his mobile ringing non-stop with inquires about tickets. “It is a huge moment for us. But unfortunately, we don’t know how many of us will make it to Birmingham. None of us expected the team to qualify and now that we are in, we don’t want to miss the opportunity. Most tickets have been picked up by Australians and New Zealand fans and now we are hoping that they will return their ticket so that we can buy them,” Karim told Express.
“We spoke to ICC and on Monday morning, they released some tickets, but that was not sufficient and moreover, as it was opened for sales in the morning, some of us could not get it because we were at work. They have told us that a few more.”
The ICC, on its part, has made a request to the fans who won’t be attending the match to return tickets and officials revealed that only a few hundred have been returned. “This was completely unexpected and most tickets have been purchased by Australian and New Zealand fans. We have made an appeal and the fans need not worry,” ICC spokesperson David Paull said.
However, there are concerns among Bangladesh supporters that tickets will be sold at higher cost like it happened during the India-Pakistan match. It has been a practice among local Asian population to buy tickets at face value and sell it at higher prices on match days. Some have even made requests to their cricketers if they can part with match passes!