November 02, 2021
Afghanistan cricketer Rashid Khan has requested cricket fans to come to the stadium tomorrow (Wednesday) to watch his team battle India "only with a ticket".
When Pakistan played Afghanistan last Friday, scenes of spectators without tickets forcibly entering the venue, went viral on social media.
He said that he was "disappointed at the scenes last weekend".
Rashid Khan took to Twitter to say that he too is excited about the match but in order to fly their national flag high and make the country proud, Afghan cricket fans will have to respect the rules and support event organisers by buying tickets to watch the match.
"I’m super excited about tomorrow’s AFGvIND game. I was disappointed at the scenes last weekend; we need to fly our national flag Flag of Afghanistan high & do our country proud. Pls respect rules & support the organisers @ICC, @T20WorldCup, @AbuDhabiCricket, only coming to the stadium with a ticket," wrote Rashid.
The match is scheduled to be played at the Abu Dhabi cricket stadium on Wednesday.
Following the crowd unrest caused by "thousands of ticketless fans" during the T20 World Cup clash between Pakistan and Afghanistan at the Dubai International Stadium on October 29, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had asked the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to undertake a thorough investigation into the incidents.
In a statement, the ICC had said that more than 16,000 tickets had been issued for the match between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, thousands of ticketless fans travelled to the venue and then attempted to force entry into the stadium.
Meanwhile, the videos of "Afghan" cricket fans attempting to enter the Dubai International Stadium had gone viral on social media.