KARACHI, March 12: The sale of television sets, mostly with large screens, has registered an increase ahead of the Pakistan- India Cricket series which kicks off on Saturday at the National Stadium.

"Yes, there is a significant rise in the sale of the television sets, and people are buying projection television sets for better viewing of the mega sports event," says Mohammad Rizwan, chairman of the liaison committee of the Karachi Electronic Dealers Association.

With all the 35,000 stadium tickets sold out, people are interested in watching the matches on their television sets at home, a salesman of the electronic market said.

"I personally know some people who have the tickets for the first one-day international, but are having second thoughts about going to the stadium fearing unnecessary hassles due to extraordinary security," Mr Rizwan said.

Gul Khan, a buyer, who was taking the television set with his brother on a motorcycle, said: "I had an old black-and-white television set at my home. My children demanded a colour TV. I have bought it for my children."

Saghirul Hasan, marketing manager of the Digital World Pakistan, said that on such occasions companies offered incentives to buyers. He also acknowledged a boost in the sale of large-screen television sets in the city.

"With a population of 14 million, Karachi has a cricket stadium with a capacity of 35,000 people. Cricket fans will obviously be glued to their television sets throughout the series," Mr Saghir remarked.

Syed Iftikhar Haider of Waqar Electronics observed that sale of TV sets was better than it was on normal days, but not as good as we were expecting.

He hoped that the sale would pick up as the Pakistan-India Crickets series got under way.