CHENNAI: Absence makes the heart grow fonder. This adage is certainly proving true as far as the ongoing cricket series between India and England is concerned. Even as the first Test in the series, which saw the Boys From Blighty deliver a thumping to their hosts, was held behind closed doors, the fact that 10,000 tickets will be allowed to the public for the second Test has clearly excited fans.
The Test match is to be played between India and England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, between February 13 and 17.
Tickets for the Test match were made available on Paytm and Paytm Insider from Tuesday and in less than an hour, around 10,000 tickets were sold,” RS Ramasaamy, secretary, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), told Moneycontrol.
While the capacity of MA Chidambaram Stadium is 33,500, only 10,000 tickets have been made available to the public.
Ramasaamy explained the new arrangement inside the stadium to the business website. “Out of the 33,500 seats, we are not using the pavilion side. The lower level pavilion is blocked for families of players because of COVID-19. Then the upper-level pavilion’s capacity is restricted to less than 25 percent. So, that leaves us with 28,000 seats out of which only 50 percent can be used. So, around 14,000 seats are available for which we have commitments for our members and BCCI members. Therefore, for the public around 10,000 seats were up for sale and all of it is booked.”
While it is true that 10,000 is not a big number when it comes to Indian cricket crowds, it is equally true that Test cricket games have failed to bring in the numbers in recent times. Reason? Indians have a distinct preference for Twenty20 cricket over the “pure” avatar of the game. But the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly upended the cart as it were with a cricket crazy public. The absence of opportunities to be “in-stadia” is what has pulled in the crowds for second Test in Chennai (and will do so for the remaining two Tests of the series in Ahmedabad.
Meanwhile, talking about safety protocols at the stadium, Ramasaamy told Moneycontrol, “We have 17 entrances to the stadium, and we are going to have people manning them with hand sanitisers and temperature checks. Plus, a mask is mandatory. There are medical kiosks on the ground. In addition, we have an isolation room, medical room and we have four ambulances placed on the ground.”
