The frenzy surrounding the cricket fans in Ranchi to watch Mahendra Singh Dhoni batting on his own home ground seems to be missing among the cricket lovers of the state capital in the seventh edition of the Indian Premier league (IPl).
Sale of tickets for the clash between Chennai Super king (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) stadium scheduled on May 2, is said to be low.
The IPl match in Ranchi is round the corner and the members of JSCA have managed to sell less than half of the ticket till date. High prices of tickets and unsympathetic weather condition are considered as the major reasons behind its poor sale.
A JSCA official distressed over poor response of locals in the IPl matches said, “The tickets sale in the IPl matches is far below from our expectation level. like previous matches, this time also we were expecting the sale at brisk pace but so far Rs500 tickets sale is only up to 50 per cent, while Rs750 tickets sale is upto 30 percent and there are few buyers for the tickets ranging between Rs1,000- Rs3,000.”
He further added online booking response is also not at a trepid note. Only 20 per cent online booking has been done till date. As many as eight ticket counters have been put up at the western side of the ground but irony is that only few people turn up the counter.
“Many leave the counter after going through the ticket rate chart. We could manage to sell only 20 to 25 tickets a day,” said the person manning the ticket counter.
Interestingly, College goers, Bibhore Mittal who came to buy the ticket had to leave the counter empty handed after going through the prices. He said, “Ticket fair is too high as compared to that of previous matches. I am planning to enjoy the match at home.”
Besides, harsh weather condition and high ticket prices the cricket lovers also blame too much of cricket in past few months for waning the craze of cricket among the people.
Banshidhar Sarangi who used to practice with CSK skipper MS Dhoni before the latter’s selection in the Indian cricket team said, “There was a time when cricket use to be an eye treat for the people but frequent matches in past few months has torn down its craze among the people. People now prefer to watch the matches on their television set rather than spending extra bucks for the stadium.”