Demand for tickets of Pak-India game reach sky high

KOLKATA: All roads, it seems, lead to Eden Gardens.

The iconic stadium in Kolkata will play host to the match of ICC World Twenty20 championship – Pakistan vs India – on Saturday evening and cricket fans are dying to get hold of precious tickets to be there.

There is a clamour for match tickets and fans are willing to pay as much as 20,000 rupees for a Rs500 ticket.

“I have to watch the match at Eden,” said Bipin, a college student, who spent hours in vain on Thursday to get hold of a couple of tickets.

Officials, meanwhile, said that they were unable to meet the huge demand of tickets for the blockbuster.

“Several Eden Gardens can be filled up, such is the demand,” said an official of Cricket Association of Bengal.

The historic venue which is set to host the high-voltage clash, has a capacity of 66,000 presently which is around 34,000 less than what used to be six years back. But the crowd strength is still enough to bring the roof down with their incessant screaming.

Outside the nearby Mohammedan tent from where the tickets for international matches are usually sold, a giant yellow banner has been fixed which says: “No tickets will be sold from the counter.”

The display also says that only through booking website can one book a ticket to the Eden this Saturday. Still there were fans queuing up in front of the counters in search of the prized paper possession.

“Dada, duto ticket hobe? (Brother, can I have two tickets for the game)” is the common question that is doing the rounds in the maidan area. And more often than not the person questioning is leaving with a glum face.

The tickets are priced at Rs1,500, Rs1,000 and Rs500.

Besides the online distribution, tickets were given to each of the 121 CAB affiliate units. There were also an undisclosed number of complimentary tickets.

“The demand for the tickets is huge according to the information I have received. It is going to be filled to the capacity this Saturday. We don’t think there’s enough place in the stadium to accommodate everyone who wants to book a ticket here. We can fill several Eden Gardens,” a senior Cricket Association of Bengal official said.

The online process to register for the lottery system for the contest on March 19, started at 12 noon last Saturday for a 48-hour window.

The fans, in India and abroad, registered by completing an online registration form available on the website. The registered fans were to be automatically enrolled into the random draw and then through an automated process, the winners were chosen. The winners from the random draw were then given an opportunity to buy tickets for the match.

Meanwhile, Pakistan legend Imran Khan will watch the Indo-Pak encounter tomorrow. Sources said the former Pakistan captain, who heads the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, will arrive in New Delhi on Friday, give his expert opinion on a local television channel before travelling to Kolkata for the high-voltage match.