The East Stand, the common man’s abode within the rich man’s club, was well endowed with people, but also masked reality.
MUMBAI: A healthy number of fans wound their way into the Cricket Club of India on Sunday for the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. The East Stand, the common man’s abode within the rich man’s club, was well endowed with people, but also masked reality.
It was as clear as crystal that the game between West Indies and Australia did manage to draw in the crowds. But the highly-priced tickets left many a cricket lover heart broken. Tickets for the East Stand, the cheapest at Rs 1,000, were the most sought after.
The 9,500-seat stand filled up as the match progressed, but outside many a cricket fan left the counter disheartened.
Tickets were being sold well into the Australia innings, but time and again the price put off people.
Some of them didn’t have the money as they fiddled thorough their pockets in the hope of pulling out a few non-existent notes and all of them were shocked when the man across the counter uttered, “Rs 1,000 please”.
It’s debatable if the price was too exorbitant or not. But there was no doubt that the exuberant fan, the one who buys a first day, first show ticket for the stalls to watch the latest blockbuster, didn’t get to watch any of the action from the Brabourne.
Abhishek Patil took the train from Kalyan hoping to spend his Sunday watching an international game at the CCI for the first time.
A mechanic at an automobile service centre, Patil is a regular at the Wankhede stands, but found the Rs 1,000 ticket way beyond his budget.
Dr Ashish Agarwal, a resident of Matunga, is from higher strata of society, but he criticised what he considered ‘inflated pricing’. “In India cricket is a game for the masses, but at the CCI I guess it is only for the classes,” he said.
CCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur believed that the rate at which the tickets were sold were in keeping with the stature of the event. “Those who can’t shell out the money can’t watch the game here,” he said when told about the fans who were left high and dry.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah washed his hands off any responsibility. “The ticket prices at Brabourne are the prerogative of the CCI,” Shah said.
The ICC’s spokesperson, Brian Murgatroyd, explained how the prices are finalised. “The association that is hosting the game in consultation with the BCCI decides the rate of tickets. The ICC only checks with them whether a particular rate is sustainable,” Murgatroyd said, putting the onus on the CCI.
Late in the evening, the relatively empty, but more expensive North Stand wore a glossy shade of white as the floodlights reflected off the empty chairs and unused spaces sprouted in the East Stand. Smarter pricing of tickets could have made a lot more people happy on Sunday.
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