Blank screens, no clarity as BCB leaves fans waiting for Bangladesh-Pakistan T20I series tickets

As anticipation built among fans hoping to secure tickets for the upcoming three-match T20I series between Bangladesh and Pakistan, many were met with frustration and confusion as the designated ticketing website failed to load.

Visitors to the www.gobcbticket.com.bd platform were greeted by blank screens and unresponsive pages, preventing them from accessing the ticket purchasing interface. Despite widespread attempts and growing complaints, the site showed no signs of functioning as advertised.

After hours of speculation and mounting discontent on social media, this reporter reached out to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director Mahbub Anam for clarification. Mahbub confirmed that ticket sales would begin from 10:00 pm, a detail that had not been made publicly clear amid the chaos.

"I've been hearing for the past two days that tickets would be available online on July 15. I did not know that the BCB sells tickets online. And ideally, I thought tickets would be available from early morning which is why I tried several times to purchase tickets from my phone straight after waking up at 10:00 am. I was met with blank screens. I even tried to go to the website from my laptop but it was the same," Siam, a fan who had been eager to buy tickets for the games, told this reporter on Tuesday. 

"Even if tickets aren't available at a particular time, a website should have updates about it or at the very least, contents of whatever I'm there for."

Mahbub had previously announced in a press conference that 70 percent of the tickets for the series would be made available online through the eTicket platform and app starting from July 15, with the remaining to be sold physically on match days at designated booths near the stadium.

However, with no official communication from the BCB about the exact launch time and a non-functional website in the lead-up to the scheduled sale, many fans were left feeling exasperated.