The Greenfield International Stadium has a capacity of 38,000-plus. But there are chances of several stands remaining empty when India plays the Netherlands in its last warm-up fixture ahead of the ODI World Cup, on Tuesday.
With heavy rains lashing the city over the past couple of days and the state expected to experience further downpours, accompanied by strong winds, the response from the fans has been lukewarm.
According to sources in the Kerala Cricket Association, about 16,000 tickets have been sold online so far.
Keeping in mind that these are warm-up games, the tickets have been priced at Rs 300 for the terrace block and Rs 900 for the pavilions.
But a visit to the BookMyShow app – the official ticket partner of the tournament – shows that several tickets are available in Terrace A, B, C, F, H and J, while only G and D blocks are sold out. Similarly, out of the nine pavilion stands, only three are sold out.
Ground staff walk across a puddle of water in the outfield following heavy rain which stopped the warm up match between South Africa and Afghanistan. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
“The ticket process is being done centrally by the ICC. But for Trivandrum, tickets were released online in a phased manner. The first phase of tickets sold out in quick time.
“However, when the second phase of tickets were issued a few days ago, the response has been slightly low because of weather conditions,” Jayesh George, the president of the Kerala Cricket Association, told Sportstar on Saturday.
ALSO READ: Kuldeep Yadav’s origin story: A dream Kapil Pandey spun
The Indian team is scheduled to reach Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday afternoon in a chartered flight, and George hopes that the ticket sales will pick up once Rohit Sharma and his men land in the city.
“Unfortunately, an orange alert has been issued in Thiruvananthapuram and a few other districts till Monday, so obviously, the fans want to wait and watch the weather conditions before booking the tickets,” George said.
However, a number of fans said that the interest in the match was warm-up match was tepid.
“Even though I will be attending the match, quite a few friends are not attending the game because it’s on a working day and they feel the tickets are priced high for a warm-up game against a relatively weaker side,” Amaljith AR, a cricket fan who works in a food processing company, said.
Johns Benny, an avid cricket fan and a popular social media influencer from Kochi, believes several fans have stayed away to avoid long travels. “It takes about 10-12 hours to reach Trivandrum from Kochi, so it’s quite the distance,” he said.
ALSO READ: Australia dials ‘Ashwin duplicate’ Mahesh Pithiya, but Baroda off-spinner turns down offer
There’s also a buzz on social media that fans are staying away from the game as no local players (read Sanju Samson) from Kerala are part of the squad.
There’s also a buzz on social media that fans are staying away from the game as no local players (read Sanju Samson) from Kerala are part of the squad. | Photo Credit: BCCI Twitter
With more rain on the cards, the touring teams are also wary of missing out on game time.
The Greenfield Stadium does not have an indoor practice facility, but the teams are in touch with the KCA to see if some local private indoor facilities could be used for training in case it continues to rain over the next few days.
“We have zeroed in on a couple of private training facilities, but we need to look at the logistical aspects before making a decision,” a spokesperson from one of the touring teams, said.
Comments
SHARE