11,080 general tickets for India-Eng ODI sold out in a day
Cuttack: Thousands of cricket lovers lined up at the ticket counters of Barabati Stadium here from as early as 2 am on Wednesday, hoping to secure one of the 11,080 available tickets for the India-England ODI match on Feb 9.
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) had announced ticket sales from 9 am to 6 pm, on Wednesday and Thursday. However, after 4 pm on Wednesday, all tickets were sold out. Many of the fans were frustrated by the alleged poor arrangements by OCA for buying tickets.
“After five years, Barabati is hosting an ODI. It’s a must-watch. Thinking that, I’ve been waiting here since 4 am. I thought I’d at least get a chance to buy a ticket, but now it feels like a lost cause,” said Smruti Pani, one of those who queued up.
“I waited in line for nearly 12 hours but couldn’t even get a single ticket. This isn’t fair; the system should have been better organised,” said Priyabrata Sahoo from Salipur area.
The situation was worsened by the lack of proper exits. A long stretch of barricades, nearly 1-km long, was set up for ticket buyers. But once they purchased their tickets, there was no clear exit route, causing further chaos and delays.
“It’s horrible to witness the arrangements. There was no proper exit after buying tickets, which created tremendous chaos. OCA should have made arrangements beforehand, which would not prevented the misery caused to several ticket buyers,” said Subhendu Dash, standing near the counter.
OCA secretary Sanjay Behera said, “We understand the frustration of the fans. We will work on better crowd management strategies. We have taken maximum precautions to avoid chaos, and a dedicated women’s ticket counter was also opened.”
Police sources said around 60,000 people had gathered to buy tickets.
Several fans fainted from exhaustion and heatstroke, prompting authorities to intervene. They engaged a firefighting team to spray water on the crowd.
“We’ve deployed additional police to ensure the safety of the crowd and also engaged a firefighting team to sprinkle water to provide relief from the scorching heat, but the turnout was much higher than anticipated,” said DCP Jagmohan Meena.
On Feb 2, 4,000 tickets for online sale sold out within 15 minutes. Those who purchased tickets online can redeem them from Feb 7 to 9 at two locations: Cambridge School in Cuttack and KIIT University in Bhubaneswar. Redemption of online tickets will be done from 10 am to 4 pm on Feb 7 and 8, and from 7 am to 12 noon on Feb 9, OCA said.
Barabati Stadium’s capacity is around 44,000.
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) had announced ticket sales from 9 am to 6 pm, on Wednesday and Thursday. However, after 4 pm on Wednesday, all tickets were sold out. Many of the fans were frustrated by the alleged poor arrangements by OCA for buying tickets.
“After five years, Barabati is hosting an ODI. It’s a must-watch. Thinking that, I’ve been waiting here since 4 am. I thought I’d at least get a chance to buy a ticket, but now it feels like a lost cause,” said Smruti Pani, one of those who queued up.
“I waited in line for nearly 12 hours but couldn’t even get a single ticket. This isn’t fair; the system should have been better organised,” said Priyabrata Sahoo from Salipur area.
The situation was worsened by the lack of proper exits. A long stretch of barricades, nearly 1-km long, was set up for ticket buyers. But once they purchased their tickets, there was no clear exit route, causing further chaos and delays.
“It’s horrible to witness the arrangements. There was no proper exit after buying tickets, which created tremendous chaos. OCA should have made arrangements beforehand, which would not prevented the misery caused to several ticket buyers,” said Subhendu Dash, standing near the counter.
OCA secretary Sanjay Behera said, “We understand the frustration of the fans. We will work on better crowd management strategies. We have taken maximum precautions to avoid chaos, and a dedicated women’s ticket counter was also opened.”
Police sources said around 60,000 people had gathered to buy tickets.
Several fans fainted from exhaustion and heatstroke, prompting authorities to intervene. They engaged a firefighting team to spray water on the crowd.
“We’ve deployed additional police to ensure the safety of the crowd and also engaged a firefighting team to sprinkle water to provide relief from the scorching heat, but the turnout was much higher than anticipated,” said DCP Jagmohan Meena.
On Feb 2, 4,000 tickets for online sale sold out within 15 minutes. Those who purchased tickets online can redeem them from Feb 7 to 9 at two locations: Cambridge School in Cuttack and KIIT University in Bhubaneswar. Redemption of online tickets will be done from 10 am to 4 pm on Feb 7 and 8, and from 7 am to 12 noon on Feb 9, OCA said.
Barabati Stadium’s capacity is around 44,000.
