The frenzy surrounding the fifth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) seems to be missing among the cricket lovers in Odisha. Sale of tickets for the clash between Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders scheduled for April 22 at Barabati Stadium-Cuttack began on a tepid note on Tuesday.
The initial response from the cricket lovers on the first day of ticket selling has not been very encouraging. Unexpectedly, there were few takers for the tickets, said Indrajit Mantri, Risk Manager, Raidiant Cash Management Services. The cash management company has been entrusted to sell IPL tickets at the stadium counters.
Mantri said, only 1,200-1,500 tickets have been sold on the first day. The turnout of the ticket buyers at the counter was unimpressive. Tickets worth Rs 5.5 lakh were sold on the opening day.
“For a cricket tournament of this magnitude, at least tickets worth Rs 10 lakh must be sold on a single day. I am sceptic about the sale of tickets before the match is played,” he added.
It may be noted that the Barabati stadium would host two IPL matches after Deccan Chargers decided to have the Cuttack stadium as its home venue. While the Chargers would be playing against Shahrukh Khan owned Kolkata Knight Riders on April 22, Pune Warriors India would lock horns with the Deccan Chargers on May 1.
Sources said that out of 43,190 seats in total, 34,932 tickets have been released for public sale at the stadium counter and 14 other counters located in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. The leftover tickets are reserved for BCCI-IPL, Deccan Chargers and state associations.
This year, the tickets have been priced at Rs 300 and Rs 400 for galleries of different tiers and Rs 500, Rs 750, Rs 1,000 for corporate gallery, special enclosure and club house respectively. While corporate box ticket will cost Rs 4,000, tickets for the air-conditioned box can be bought at Rs 2,500. The sale of ticket for the second match is scheduled to start on start on April 24.
“We have managed to sell only 90 tickets on the first day at our counter. But on Tuesday, only two-three calls have been received from the cricketing fans for buying tickets. I believe about 60 per cent of the total tickets will be sold before the match as it is not an international match,” said Bisesh Bhuiyan, Store Manager, The Mobile Store, one of the 14 locations identified for the sale of tickets.
Deccan Chargers are languishing at the bottom of the points table in this season of the IPL extravaganza having lost all the three matches played till date with a net run rate of -1.366.
