Cricket Australia (CA) has announced that the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which will be held later this year, has witnessed an unprecedented surge in ticket sales. The CA has revealed that the ticket sales for Day 1 of the Test are three times more than in 2018-19.

During India’s tour of Australia in 2020-21, the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne was played with only 30,000 spectators attending at the stadium which has a capacity of more than 100,000, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The ticket sales for days 2-4 of the Boxing Day Test have increased 5.5 times more than the 2018-19 tour.

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‘There is enormous interest’

“The Border Gavaskar series is a highly anticipated event and current ticket sales demonstrate there is enormous interest in the upcoming contest between Australia and India,” Joel Morrison, Executive General Manager, CA Events & Operations, said.

“Tickets are selling fast for all five Tests as excitement continues to build for the summer ahead, so we’re encouraging fans to buy tickets now to ensure they don’t miss out on any of the action,” added Morrison.

About 3.9 per cent of ticket-buyers for the Test hail from India, with this number going up from 0.7 per cent during 2018-19.

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“We also continue to see strong sales from Indian fans as well as Australian fans, presenting a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the enduring connection between our two countries both on and off the field, with a large contingent of travelling fans expected to attend Tests across the summer,” stated Morrison.

The first Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar series will be played in Perth from 22 November. The series will be part of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The Boxing Day Test (From 26 December) will be the fourth Test of the series and will be followed by the New Year’s Test in Sydney from 3 January.

India have beaten Australia in their last two Test series Down Under, the 2018-19 season and the 2020-21 season.