New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) The second phase of ticket sales for the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 opened on Wednesday, but overwhelming demand for the marquee India–Pakistan fixture caused the ticketing platform to crash within minutes.

The high-profile clash, to be held at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 15, is traditionally the most sought-after contest in the tournament calendar and was included in this round of ticket allocation.

But within minutes of going live at 7 pm, the official ticketing agent of the ICC experienced a surge in traffic as users attempted to secure seats for the most sought-after fixture of the tournament. The volume of concurrent requests caused the platform’s servers to crash.

Though the ticketing agent later said that sales will restart again at 9 pm after users could not complete transactions due to ‘temporary technical difficulties’, the India-Pakistan game tickets are still not available for purchase, with a ‘coming soon’ message being displayed.

The 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will return to the subcontinent for the first time since 2016, when the 10th edition of the tournament begins on February 7, with India facing the USA in Mumbai and Pakistan taking on the Netherlands in Colombo in the opening fixtures.

India’s schedule includes other group-stage matches against Namibia in New Delhi on February 12, and a face-off with the Netherlands in Ahmedabad on February 18. The month-long event will be staged across eight venues in India and Sri Lanka, including Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kandy, and Colombo.

To prioritise fan access, the ICC has introduced record affordable ticket prices, starting at Rs 100 in India and LKR 1000 in Sri Lanka. India, co-hosts of the upcoming competition with Sri Lanka, will defend their crown on home soil after winning the previous edition in 2024, which was held in the USA and the West Indies. For Sri Lanka, it will be their second time hosting the tournament, having last staged it in 2012.

–IANS

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