Tickets for the mouth-watering World Cup clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan on March 1 at Pretoria have been sold out as expected. The bitter foes have not met on a cricket field for more than two years now after Indian government banned its team to play its neighbours following the Kargil conflict in 1999.However, there is no ban on the Indian team taking on Pakistan in multi-nation events like the World Cup and fans have lapped up the opportunity to relive the excitement which the clash between the rivals invariably generates. Also sold out yesterday were 15,000 tickets for India’s matches against England and Australia in Durban and Centurion respectively, ICC spokesperson Rodney Hartman said here. The tickets for the mega event’s final in Johannesburg and one semi-final in Durban were sold out much earlier. However, some 95,000 tickets are still available for various matches at all 12 venues in South Africa. Hartman said these were the last remaining tickets available.Speed to see firsthand the Zimbabwean security plansLondon: International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed will visit Zimbabwe on Wednesday to agree the security plan for the country’s six World Cup matches. England and Australia have resisted calls from their governments to boycott their matches in Zimbabwe. “The safety and security of players and officials in Zimbabwe is clearly an issue for some countries and this meeting is an important opportunity for the ICC to see first hand how the security arrangements for this event are proceeding,” Speed said in a statement.
