“I am disappointed I won’t get to see Lasith Malinga (the fiery bowler from Sri Lanka) in action. But I am happy I will see my all-time favourite Tendulkar,” says 25-year-old Naresh L., a regular at most IPL matches in Chennai.
For Naresh and many other fans who had queued up from early morning at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium to buy tickets to the Chennai Super Kings vs. Mumbai Indians match (on April 6), it was a big relief when ticket sales began finally at 1-30 pm after a three-hour delay.
Ticket counters were opened only after the organisers gave a written undertaking to the police commissioner that no Sri Lankan player would play or watch the Indian Premier League matches in Chennai. The crowd kept the ticket counters busy.
Political hue
On Tuesday, the Indian Premier League governing council decided that Sri Lankan players will not participate in the 2013 IPL matches to be held in Chennai, after the Tamil Nadu government urged the Prime Minister to advise the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to ensure that the IPL organisers do not allow Sri Lankans to participate in any of the matches in the State.
But 28-year-old Uma Devi was blissfully unaware of the entire political aside. “My husband and I are excited to catch IPL-6 action live at the ground. I really hope CSK wins,” she gushed. Devi was among the few women who braved the city’s searing heat to queue up for the tickets.
The MAC stadium’s capacity is 37,000; 80 per cent of these seats are on sale.
Though fans stood patiently in the queue, a few were getting restless over the delay in issuing tickets. Sensing this, policmen swung into action by distributing water bottles. Samosa and chaat vendors made a quick buck, as hungry fans grabbed a bite. But Vishal Raj, who is in class nine, did not mind the heat or the wait. “It’s been a long wait for me anyway for my exams to get over. It’s IPL time and I can’t wait for the matches to start.”
Chennai Super Kings expects the turnout to be better than last year.
Fixture rejig
In Karnataka, the upcoming State Assembly elections have prompted a few changes to the match fixtures — Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Kings XI Punjab to be held in Bangalore on May 4 has been pushed to May 16, and RCB’s game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, slated for May 6, has been advanced to April 9. Kings XI Punjab’s face-off with Delhi Daredevils, which had been fixed for April 23 in Mohali, will be held in Dharamsala on May 16.
KXIP’s May 16 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Dharamsala will be held in Mohali on May 6.
Our Hyderabad Bureau reports: Sunrisers, the Indian Premier League Hyderabad franchisee, seems to have adopted a low-key entry as the first match of IPL-6 gets under way on March 5 at Hyderabad.
The owner of the franchisee, Sun TV Networks purchased the Hyderabad franchise for Rs 85.05 crore per year after franchise of Deccan Chargers, owned by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, was terminated by IPL Governing Council.
There has been no announcement as yet on the availability of tickets for the matches. The first match is being held on May 5 between hosts Sunrisers and Pune Warriors.
Our Bangalore Bureau adds: Ticket sales for the Bangalore leg of the IPL has started briskly. Fans have been lining up at the Chinnaswamy Stadium since morning.
Officials at the stadium said some of the matches have either been advanced or put off because of the State elections in May.