MCA make more tickets available for Sunday's India vs England 4th ODI at Wankhede, but lukewarm counter sales could mar tie
MCA make more tickets available for Sunday's India vs England 4th ODI at Wankhede, but lukewarm counter sales could mar tie
After a hue and cry over the lack of availabilty of tickets during the World Cup in March-April, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) are doing their best to ensure maximum Mumbaikars manage to get a seat at the 32,000-capacity Wankhede Stadium for the India-England fourth one-dayer on Sunday. 
Housefull: A buzzing Wankhede Stadiumu00a0 during the World Cup final
between India and Sri Lanka earlier this year. Pic/Getty Images
"Around 21,900 tickets are open for the public after distributing complimentaries to our affiliated clubs, sponsors, government offices and other agencies," informed MCA treasurer Ravi Savant. However, first day's sales didn't live up to MCA's expectations. "Only 2300 tickets were sold. But we are expecting the demand to rise in the next two days," added Savant.
Apparently, MCA-affiliated clubs, who get the tickets at discounted rates, also haven't taken keen interest in buying them. Out of 7000 tickets only 4535 applications were received yesterday.u00a0 "Times have changed.
Earlier, matches used to be the clubs' major source of funds. Now they get a subsidy from the MCA, so the demand has dropped over the years," said Savant.
Sources in the MCA attributed exorbitant ticket rates as one of the reasons for less demand. Tickets are priced between Rs 1000 to Rs 20,000 for the fourth ODI.
"Prices like Rs 2000, 3000 and 5,000 are too much. Ideally, it should have been kept between Rs 500 to Rs 2,500," said a source.
Another reason for less demand could be the clash with Diwali and absence of top stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan.u00a0 "Diwali is the biggest festival on the Indian calendar. So, people prefer to stay home and celebrate instead of coming for a match. Even top cricketers are missing from action," an MCA official said.
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