26 March,2011 07:57 AM IST | | Agencies
With arch rivals India and Pakistan set to clash in the World Cup semi-finals here, prices of all tickets for the big match have soared in the black market.
While a Rs 250 ticket is now being sold on the sly for Rs 2,000 and even more, Rs 500 tickets are available for Rs 4,000. And a Rs 1,000 ticket can only be bought believe it or not for as high as Rs 6,500-7,000.
Ticket prizes soar for the Indo-Pak semi-final as Mohali eagerly waits to see local hero Yuvraj Singh's master strokes.
This is now. By the time India and Pakistan take on one another March 30, the prices may go up further.
The reasons are not far to seek.
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"Everyone waits for an India-Pakistan match. It is nothing less than war fought on the border. Ticket rates have risen up exceptionally after India won the match against Australia," said a black marketeer.
India crushed Australia by five wickets in Ahmedabad on Thursday to send the world champions out of the tournament. The man behind the Indian victory was Yuvraj Singh, a local hero in Mohali.
India and Pakistan will play in floodlights at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium. The Pakistani team will arrive on Friday. Scores of security personnel have been deployed in and around hotel Taj where the Pakistanis will stay.
"Earlier also people were buying tickets in black from us but we were making only a few hundred rupees on each ticket," said an engineering student. "Now the situation is different."
He said he bought around 100 tickets on the very first day of the ticket sales ufffd and now they were in great demand.
Punjab Police are aware of the widespread black-marketing. "It is a problem and many cricket lovers will suffer due to this.
We will try our level best to check black marketing of tickets," Mohali district police chief Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said.
