By Jaideep Sarin Oct 27, 2006, 10:13 GMT
Mohali, Oct 27 (IANS) From a drought of spectators in recent one-day international (ODI) matches of the ICC Champions Trophy to a flood of humanity - the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium - is waiting for the turnaround to happen this Sunday.
Talk to anyone in Chandigarh - the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana - about cricket and the only question that is asked is - do you have a pass or ticket for the India-Australia match?
If the PCA officials are to be believed, then all seats in the 36,000-capacity stadium were lapped up in just a couple of hours after the ticket counters opened last week.
'Tickets are a big problem. We get so many calls every hour for tickets and passes. There cannot be a bigger match than India versus Australia,' PCA treasurer G.S. Walia told IANS.
From ministers, politicians, bureaucrats, police officials, media and anyone influential in the tri-city of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali - everyone wants to get into the stadium Sunday.
A PCA official admitted that more passes and tickets had been doled out this time again and a major chaos could result on the match day with more spectators entering the stadium than the number of seats.
This ground has a history of genuine ticket-holders left outside in the lurch while freeloaders, mostly pushed in by the police, getting inside.
Compared to this is the reality of the three matches played here so far, including Friday's Pakistan versus South Africa ODI - where spectator stands saw only a few hundred people sitting.
'At best, the crowd in previous matches has touched 5,000. The PCA could have done better by selling tickets at a cheaper rate to educational institutions. These are international teams playing and cricket fans are being kept away,' said businessman Amarjit Singh.
A general block ticket in the stadium is priced at Rs.300 - three times of its price in any previous match. This is the block favoured by students but the price is heavy for them this time.
For the VIP block, the ticket price is Rs.5,000 for one match. The terrace block, just above the dressing rooms, is a whopping Rs.10,000 per ticket. The air-conditioned lounge on the top floor is priced at Rs.15,000.
'If I have to purchase four tickets of Rs.10,000 each for the terrace block, I would prefer putting a few more thousands to that price of Rs.40,000 and buying a wall-mounted LCD and watch things at home,' contractor Arun Nehra said.
The 'worst-hit' this time have been the owners of corporate boxes at the PCA stadium. Their boxes have been taken over by the ICC and they cannot oblige people with seat passes like earlier occasions.
'I worked out the cost of each seat in my box. It came to a phenomenal Rs.35,000 per seat,' said a Chandigarh-based corporate boss.
© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service
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