Chaos in Bangalore as fans rush for tickets

The problems surrounding the sale of World Cup tickets in India have descended into chaos, with police in Bangalore conducting a baton-charge on fans queuing up for tickets for Sunday's match between India and England. The 7000 tickets were sold out within three hours, officials said, leaving hundreds of fans - many of whom had queued up overnight - angry and disappointed.

People started to queue from about midnight but soon after that were asked by the police to disperse. The fans regrouped again at around 5 am and were allowed to queue up but within the hour the crowd swelled and the queue stretched from the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the venue of the match, onto MG road - ironically, to the crossing named after Anil Kumble, president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association - the host organisation.

By 8.30, when the tickets began to be issued, the chaos started to descend and soon the police swung into action. AFP reported that several people were injured and taken away on stretchers as police attempted to control the crowd, estimated at 5000. Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan, ESPNcricinfo's stats analyst, was among those who'd queued up from midnight. "The officials initially said only one ticket would be sold per person but suddenly they started to give two per head. Very soon, they said the tickets were sold out. We spotted one policeman holding ten tickets." He said the confusion added to the general sense of anger and restlessness.

The scenes were an eerie echo of the alarm sounded by the ICC in a letter to Sharad Pawar, where it said the high demand for these tickets created the "potential for chaos and physical injury when the box office sales open".

Javagal Srinath, the former India fast bowler who is now secretary of the KSCA, said 7000 tickets had been sold out, adding that some of the best tickets had been taken by the ICC for their sponsors. However, he said he was hopeful that more tickets would be made available over the next couple of days and would be sold online through Kyazoonga.com, the ICC's official online tickets sales partner.

"There is a limit to how much we can fulfil people's expectations," Srinath said. "It is a big challenge but even our hands are tied. For a match of this stature, even if you double or triple the amount of tickets for the public, it won't be enough. That's the tradition in India and we expected this mad rush."

Srinath explained how they arrived at the number of the tickets sold to general public. "There are about 4500 [KSCA] members, and we have to give one extra ticket to them. So that's around 7000 tickets gone there. We also have corporate commitments, and we had to give tickets to the ICC. For the first time, too, all the state Associations have taken their full quota (25 tickets each) of tickets. But we are also thankful that they are sending back some unsold tickets."

"Some more tickets are expected to be available online. We are getting back some tickets from the ICC and CAB and those will be sold online. They are also willing to sell those tickets on the day of the match. So all is not lost for the fans of Bangalore."

There was some dark humour too. Asked whether selling tickets was more challenging than bowling for India, Srinath said, "I think bowling at the dirt track was the easiest."

Sunday's game was switched in late January to Bangalore because of problems at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata where the match, deemed to be the marquee game of the World Cup group stage, was due to be played.

Thursday's incidents in Bangalore follow widespread criticism of the shortage of match tickets for the general public - only 4000 tickets will be available for the final - and shoddy distribution of tickets bought online. The ICC letter to Pawar, who also heads the tournament's organising committee, warned of the problems and the potential fallout - including lawsuits by angry fans and corporate sponsors who have not received tickets. 

Source:http://www.espncricinfo.com/

Concerns galore for Bangalore on eve of key clash

 

Two days before India and England play their high-voltage Group B World Cup match, Bangalore finds itself full of questions. Friday began with Virender Sehwag being struck on the ribcage in the nets and the BCCI requesting the media to "refrain" from going after players for interviews before the match. It ended with a heavy downpour over the city that suddenly caused another round of worry for the teams, organisers, ICC and broadcasters. In between, the uncertainty over tickets - which led to the police baton-charge yesterday, and also to the ICC asking Sharad Pawar to intervene - continued, with the number of unsold tickets still unclear.

Sehwag's injury this morning - he was hit on the left ribcage - came during a training session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium but he is currently under medication and is expected to be fit for the England game, according to a BCCI press release. "A thorough examination has been done and a scan is not required," Indian team manager Ranjib Biswal said. "There is no major worry and he is fit enough to play." The Indians trained on a different set of wickets to the ones they have over the last two days, and some of them are said to have found that their practice pitches had some uneven bounce. Sehwag was batting at the centre wicket of the NCA when he was hit on the ribs by one of the local net bowlers. The worry around him had dissipated by the afternoon.

The BCCI's release with the Sehwag injury update ended with a request to the media to "refrain from constantly contacting the members of the Indian cricket team on phone / SMS for interviews / bites as players would like to concentrate on the ongoing World Cup matches."

The immediate ticket crisis was overshadowed by the weather, which suddenly loomed as a threat over Bangalore on Friday evening. The game against England was moved from Eden Gardens in January. All weather reports, however, indicate that the skies will be clear on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Bangalore police have said the match will be played in a secure environment for both players and fans, unlike yesterday's incident when people queuing up for tickets were baton-charged. "We will deploy about 3,000 policemen, including 700 traffic police in and around the stadium to ensure foolproof security for the match," Shankar Bidari, the Bangalore police commissioner, told AFP.

"Special security will be provided for hundreds of English fans expected to arrive in the city to watch the match," Bidari said. "Keeping in view the global threat perception, we are taking all precautions, including intelligence-gathering to prevent undesirable elements entering the stadium."

The police crackdown over people trying to buy tickets outside the stadium has disturbed many of the English contingent - team, media and fans - in the city, Stuart Broad, the England fast bowler, said he was "shocked" by it but did, however, add that the England team were satisfied with the security being offered to them in Bangalore. "It is shocking to hear people getting hurt in something as light as queuing up for a cricket ticket. No one likes to see that. So obviously, we are disappointed that happened. But security-wise we felt very safe as a team. We have been looked after very well by the police who have been fantastic. But it's awful to hear of what happened at the ground."

Bidari said it was unfortunate that the police had to use force to control the crowds outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and Ratnakar Shetty, the World Cup tournament director, apologised to fans. "We are sorry the fans have been let down," Shetty said. "We understand their sentiments but we can't do much."

Shetty's helplessness stems from the ticketing commitments the organisers have towards the board's member associations, members of the host state associations, the ICC and sponsors, which have led to very few tickets being left for the public. Local state associations distribute tickets through varying means, some through clubs, or member bodies, with the number of public tickets always being squeezed out to a small percentage of the ground capacity.

With the public sale of tickets having been completed and tickets distributed to members and clubs, the Karnataka State Cricket Association is now tackling the many demands being made to them by the BCCI's 25 state associations who can ask for 25 tickets each. The 4500 individual members of the KSCA have also been given about 7000 tickets. There is some possibility that should a large number of public tickets be returned into the system through cancellations due to the last minute change of venue, more tickets may be put on online sale. 

Source:http://www.espncricinfo.com/

Tendulkar surprises at practice session by batting left-handed

Senior India batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday surprised everyone when he opted to bat left handed during the team's practice session at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here.

Indian cricket team, which has been camping here for their crucial Group 'B' league match against England on Sunday, had a rigorous batting session at the National Cricket Academy before shifting to the stadium.

Tendulkar grabbed everyone's attention by choosing to bat left-handed with a few of his teammates and local bowlers bowling at him.

He also did not wear gloves, while all other batsmen, who faced two deliveries each, wore their cricketing gears.

Tendulkar sent the very first delivery he faced over the ropes before stepping out to hoist another six sixes, missing only one out of eight deliveries.

Besides the rigorous batting session, the team also went through a brief 10-minute catching practice session.

Absolutely fine, says Tendulkar

Bangalore: The Master, Sachin Tendulkar, has said he’s “absolutely fine.”

“It’s not that I suffered an injury on my (left) knee in Dhaka... Getting an MRI done, on returning home, was purely a precautionary step... I’m absolutely fine,” Sachin told The Telegraph on Thursday afternoon.

The MRI was done in Mumbai on Sunday.

Sachin, by the way, was among the last to leave the National Cricket Academy/the Chinnaswamy after the Team India nets.

Not a first for cricket’s most capped and prolific run-getter, but it just showed the kind of example he continues to set.

This is Sachin’s sixth World Cup and, almost surely, his last. He turns 38 in April.

2010 IPL season

During the IPL's first auction for the year 2010, Mumbai Indians bought Westindian All rounder Kieron Pollard for USD 750,000, after a silent tie-breaker with Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders.The team had a strong start after defending a total of 212 against the Rajasthan Royals in their first match and went on to beat Delhi Daredevils defending another 218.The team was supported by match-winning knocks from Tiwary,Rayudu and Tendulkar.However the Mumbai Indians crumbled to the Royal Challengers Bangalore for their first loss in 3 games.In their next game, Mumbai Indians restricted the Kolkata Knight Riders to a meagre 155.The Mumbai Indians chased this total with ease, as Sachin Tendulkar scored a blazing knock of 71 from 48 balls. It also won in the same fashion against Chennai Super Kings by Sachin Tendulkar, again playing a match-winning knock of 72 from 52 balls.They continued their winning streak by winning against the previous year's champions, Deccan Chargers, due to an amazing knock of 49 from just 18 balls and a spell of 3-31, by Harbhajan Singh. They also beat Kings XI Punjab by 4 wickets, courtesy of Shikhar Dhawan, Saurabh Tiwary & Rajagopal Sathish. They also defeated the Deccan Chargers by 63 runs and won their 7th game out of the 9 games played . On 11/04/2010, Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals to become the first team in IPL 2010 to qualify for semi-finals. In their 12th game they defeated Delhi Daredevils and remained the table toppers with 18 points and a run rate of +1.12. In the 13th game Mumbai Indians Defeated Royal Challengers in their Home Ground in a match that was delayed due to a small intensity blast in the stadium premises. In the final league game Mumbai Indians rested their key players. Dwayne Bravo lead the game in absence of Sachin Tendulkar and they lost the game to Kolkata Knight riders by nine wickets. With 20 points they were at the top of the points table and played their first IPL semi-final with Royal Challengers Bangalore. They crushed their opponents in the semi finals despite losing Sachin Tendulkar for a single digit score, which happens to be his first single digit score this year in all forms of the game. They lost their first IPL final to Chennai Super Kings. They also qualified for Champions League Twenty20 2010 along with Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

2009 IPL season

During the IPL's first transfer window, The Indians acquired Zaheer Khan in exchange for Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan in exchange for Ashish Nehra . Jaydev Shah was also added to the roster, while Loots Bosman, Dwayne Smith, Dominic Thornely, Ashwell Prince and Manish Pandey were released from their contracts.
Shaun Pollock decided not to return for the second season of IPL. He, however, kept an association with the franchise, taking up the role of the Team Mentor. Pravin Amre replaced Lalchand Rajput as the coach.

2008 IPL season

The season got off to a nightmarish start for the Indians, having lost their captain Sachin Tendulkar to a hamstring injury. With Harbhajan Singh taking over as captain, the team proceeded to lose their first 4 matches of the tournament. After Singh’s suspension for hitting Sreesanth, Shaun Pollock assumed the leadership duties until Tendulkar’s return on 14 May. It was during this time that the team turned their fortunes around, putting together a 6 game winning streak and an opportunity to make the semi-finals. They were unable to take advantage of this opportunity as they lost 3 of their next 4 games, with the 3 losses occurring in very close affairs. All these three games were lost in the last ball of the match.The match between MI and kings XI Punjab played on 21 May was considered to be the best of the season with Yuvraj Singh diving full length to run out the MI batsman in the last delivery of the match.The Indians finished with a record of 7 wins and 7 losses. Sanath Jayasuriya played a vital role in securing two important wins for the team.

Introduction

Mumbai Indians (Marathi: मुंबई इंडियन्स),is a franchise cricket team representing Mumbai in the Indian Premier League. The team is one of the ten founding members of the IPL in 2008. Mumbai Indians are currently led by Sachin Tendulkar, who is the Icon Player for the team and is coached by Robin Singh. The team is owned by India's biggest conglomerate, Reliance Industries, through its 100% subsidiary IndiaWin Sports.