After playing in front of choc a block crowds in their every match for the last three months in England and Dubai, Team India is set to be greeted by near-empty stands as Test cricket returns to India with the first match of the two-Test series against the West Indies in Rajkot.
Only 10% tickets of the first Test were sold till Tuesday, confirmed Saurashtra Cricket Association. With barely 12 hours to go before the first ball is bowled, it is certain to expect a handful of people watching the proceedings from the 25,000 capacity stadium.
While the second India-West Indies ODI has been shifted to Visakhapatnam from Indore after a dispute between the state body and BCCI over the distribution of complimentary passes, SCA is doling out freebies to fill its stadium which is only hosting its second-ever Test.
"The situation sadly is opposite here (compared to other state units hosting ODIs). Rajkot is not a big city like Delhi and Mumbai and we were expecting a decent turnout in a smaller city like here. Right now, it doesn't seem to be the case as just over 2000 tickets have been sold. But we don't know why people are not showing interest. Hopefully, the sales pick up over the weekend," veteran administrator Niranjan Shah told PTI.
Shah, who currently holds no official post in SCA after being at the helm for more than four decades, is overseeing preparation for the series opener. SCA has even distributed the tickets to players, men and women, in all districts of the region to boost attendance.
"According to BCCI diktat, 10% of match tickets are reserved for school kids. So they will be attending too. Having said that, it is unfortunate that people are not showing interest," Shah added.
The cheapest ticket on sale costs Rs 100. As per the new BCCI constitution, 90 percent tickets of the total capacity of the stadium must be put on public sale, which effectively leaves 10 per cent of complimentary tickets with state units.