With the rise of Franchise Leagues around the world and their growing popularity, the future of Test cricket is being questioned, but India’s presence in the English summer has every indication of making it a blockbuster.
With the start of the series just 12 days away, the tickets are almost sold out in all of the five Test matches. While only a few tickets are available for day 4 at Headingley, Edgbaston is almost all sold out. Lord’s is also expected to be a full house while a limited number of seats are available for the fourth Test in Manchester.
There were concerns about the marketability of the sport with the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The two legends of Indian cricket announced their retirements within a week of each other, in the middle of the IPL, where Kohli won his first title for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
“This is a welcome sign because the news of Virat and Rohit not coming could have impacted ticket sales. That they continue to be robust is a welcome sign for the format”, said a senior British scribe who has been covering India matches in Britain for close to two decades.
“Tickets aren’t cheap. And that’s the best part of it. People want to watch the Indians play and if they are competitive the limited tickets that are left will also get sold out”, said another journalist. “With Bazball you expect batting wickets and that’s where you are assured of crowds. India will also bat well and you will have a packed house in every venue”, he concluded.
Even though T20I cricket may look like the most lucrative of the formats, it is clear that Test cricket isn’t just surviving, but thriving. Going back to the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, an average crowd of over 87000 attended the Boxing Day Test and more than 50000 for the New Year Test in Sydney, which in turn proved that Indian cricket will be a strong driver in making this summer of cricket in the UK a blockbuster.
According to sources from the ECB, this is the status of the ticket sales:
Friday 20-Tuesday 24 June – Headingley (Only Day 4 tickets remain)
Wednesday 2-Sunday 6 July – Edgbaston (Only Day 4 tickets remain)
Thursday 10-Monday 14 July – Lord’s (Multiple days sold out)
Wednesday 23-Sunday 27 July – Emirates Old Trafford (Limited tickets remaining for days 2 & 3)
Thursday 31 July-Monday 4 August – Kia Oval (Only Day 5 tickets remain)