Tickets for India Vs Ireland tie sold out

Bangalore, March 3: Ireland's backdoor victory against England at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday's night, has raised the level of hype surrounding the victors' next match against India, scheduled for Sunday. But fans who failed to buy their tickets on time, are now greeted with ‘sold out' boards all around the venue.

Secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Asssociation Javagal Srinath, explained by way of a pie-chart, how the tickets were sold: "The break-up of sales is as follows: 31 per cent through box-office, 21 per cent through kyazoonga.com, 10 per cent to the clubs, 14 per cent to the corporates, four per cent to the ICC as complimentary tickets, six per cent to the ICC with option to buy back, 13 per cent to the BCCI and KSCA and one per cent to other State associations, ” said Srinath.The former India fast bowler said after factoring in sale through counters, retail outlets and kyazoonga.com, the public received a total share of 52 per cent. He also pointed out that special arrangement were made to accommodate more ticket-bearers.

“We have also increased the capacity of the venue to 39,221 by increasing the gallery seats and removing the chairs there. For the match against England here on February 27, we had a crowd of 37,516 and we gained that data from the turnstiles,” Srinath said.

The KSCA secretary also promised enhanced facilities for the fans. “I assure the public that there would be more food and water. During the last match, there was a water shortage in the ‘H' Stand. We have now increased the water dispensers all around the ground,” Srinath said.

With tickets for the match against Ireland being on offer for a long period - from Feb 18 to Feb 28 - the counters luckily did not witness any untroward incidents and heightened emotions as what was on offer in the lead up to the India Vs England match.

And unlike the England game that was was moved from Kolkata, the Group B match against Ireland was part of the original itinerary and that enabled the KSCA to grant a higher allocation of tickets for the public