25 February 2005	Friday	15 Muharram 1426

LAHORE, Feb 24: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has received 7500 tickets for the first Test to be played at will be put on sale at Gadaffi stadium tomorrow (Friday) and in also Islamabad and Karachi.

"We have received that amount of tickets from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and they (tickets) will be sold out under a prescribed formula ", said a PCB official.

"We are expecting that lot of people will turn up here to purchase the tickets which will be sold on " first come first served basis", said the official. The centres are being set up at Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore, the American Express offices in Blue Area in Islamabad and Ziauddin Road, Karachi.

Fans will get visa forms from these centres on Friday. Four visa application forms duly filled, valid passport and four photographs are to be submitted along with Rs2,500 (price of ticket, visa fee and service charges) on Saturday and Sunday from 10am.

"The Indian High Commission authorities have assured prompt action upon receiving visa applications and hopefully visas will be issued in 24 to 48 hours", he said.

Visas will be issued for Mohali and Chandigarh for a period of 9-days from March 6-14. The Test match will be played from March 8-12. "Visitors with valid visas can travel through Wahga border through train or bus or by foot. However, they must exit India by the same mode".

He said PCB has appointed American Express as the official tour operators and they will be handling the sale of tickets and processing of visa applications in Islamabad and Karachi.

The date and time to collect passports will be announced later. Visas will be issued for Mohali and Chandigarh for a period of nine days from March 6 to 14. Visitors travelling through Wagah can enter India by train, bus or by foot. -APP