The online tickets too were sold out within a few hours, amid reports of clashes in parts of Lahore.

Some 5000 tickets were reportedly put on sale.

Punjab Bank branches had been designated to sell the tickets. However, there were complaints that the banks received only a few hundred tickets valued at Rs 500. Fans accused bank officials of keeping the tickets for themselves. Only those valued at Rs 4000 were available, which also ran out in a few hours.

Long queues were seen in banks across the city. In the Gulberg Main Boulevard area, protesters broke the glass window of the bank when told they were out of luck.

“We have been standing in queues since early morning, but after just two hours we were told that tickets are sold out,” Ahmed Ali told Dawn TV in Lahore.

Pakistan has not hosted international cricket since 2009, except for a short limited overs series against Zimbabwe in May-June 2015, leaving fans desperate.

The country was avoided by international teams since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore on March 3, 2009.