Daily Times

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday announced that TikTok, the leading destination for short-form videos, would be the title sponsor of the historic Test series between Pakistan and Australia, which commences in Rawalpindi on Friday, March 4.

This is the first time a digital entertainment platform has sponsored a bilateral series in Pakistan and represents an exciting step for both TikTok and PCB, bringing a new kind of partner for international cricket in the country.

As the title sponsor, TikTok will provide a place where cricket fans can follow their favorite cricket content creators, share the best TikTok cricket content, and create their own special moments, reactions, and celebrations around this historic series with Australia.

Alongside the partnership, PCB will launch an official TikTok account prior to the series with a mission to inspire and entertain millions of cricket fans not just in Pakistan but around the world with exclusive behind-the-scenes content as well as current and archival footage.

PCB Chief Executive Faisal Hasnain said: “We have already established an excellent relationship with TikTok, starting with the HBL Pakistan Super League 7. Given that relationship, we are delighted to extend it further for the historic Pakistan versus Australia Test series, which will probably be the series of the year.

“This agreement with TikTok is a further indication of the current good health of Pakistan cricket and reflects the value and benefit commercial partners see by associating themselves with our brand.”

Paul Katrib, Head of Brand Marketing, Middle East, Turkey, Africa, and Pakistan at TikTok said: “We are delighted to become the title sponsor of this historic Pakistan-Australia series. After the resounding success of our partnership with HBL PSL 7, we want to continue cementing TikTok’s position as the ultimate platform for cricket fandom in Pakistan.

“TikTok has become a place where people enjoy a new type of experience for sports and cricket, in particular, as more and more cricket organizations, teams and players jump on our platform to engage directly with fans. Our Pakistani community on TikTok loves to celebrate cricket in creative ways, and we can’t wait to see how they engage with all the unmissable content we expect for this historic series against Australia.”

Meanwhile, the PCB has confirmed ticket prices for the three-Test series match which will be played in Rawalpindi (4-8 March), Karachi (12-16 March), and Lahore (21-25 March).

For the Rawalpindi Test, only two enclosure categories are available. The PKR500 VIP enclosures comprise Imran Khan, Javed Akhtar, Javed Miandad, and Azhar Mahmood, whereas Premium enclosures include Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Miran Bakhsh, and Yasir Arafat, and the price per ticket has been fixed at PKR100.

There will be four enclosure categories in Karachi and Lahore, the ticket prices are as follows:

General – PKR 100 each

First Class – PKR 200 each

Premium – PKR 350 each

VIP – PKR 500 each

Tickets are now available online at PCB.bookme.pk as well as from the nearest M&P Courier outlets from Friday 1100 PKT. All ticket-holders will also have to display their Covid immunization certificates and CNIC at the time of entering the venues.

In the first phase, the PCB has released 50 percent of tickets with further tickets to be made available online and nearest M&P Courier outlets after further guidance is received from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

Enclosure categories:

National Stadium, Karachi – Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Javed Miandad,  (VIP enclosure), Imran Khan, Quaid, Wasim Akram (Premium enclosure), Asif Iqbal, Intikhab Alam, Iqbal Qasim, Mohammad Brothers, Nasim-ul-Ghani (First-Class enclosures), and Majid Khan, Waqar Hasan, Wasim Bari, Zaheer Abbas (General enclosure)

Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore – Fazal Mahmood, Imran Khan (VIP enclosure), Rajas and Saeed Anwar (Premium enclosure), Abdul Qadir, AH Kardar, Javed Miandad and Sarfraz Nawaz (First-Class enclosure) and Hanif Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Majid Khan, Nazars, Quaid, Saeed Ahmad, Zaheer Abbas (General enclosure).