Feroz Shah Kotla has come a long way

Updated on: 10 March,2011 06:40 AM IST |
Sai Mohan |

Of the 15,000 tickets issued by Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) to Bank of Maharashtra for yesterday's India-Holland match, most were being sold like hot cakes at the branch near the Feroz Shah Kotla.
u00a0
Yet, there wasn't a packed house even halfway through the World Cup fixture. Of the 20,000 tickets for sale, 5000 were put up on the tournament website.

Outside the bank, people were queuing up on the street to get hold of a ticket. Many of them managed to get their hands on the tickets.

In fact, even after the game had started, only 80 per cent of the ground was full. That clearly indicated that the Bank was still issuing tickets. However, by the time India's run-chase got underway, it was a near-packed house. "We allocated the tickets to the Bank long time back ... No other game has seen so many tickets being issued on the day of the match, to the general public. It's been a great turnout," SP Bansal, secretary of DDCA, told MiD DAY, when asked the reason for the empty stands. "The formula we used for ticketing seems to have worked wonders. Other associations in the country must take a leaf out of our book. What has happened in Bangalore and Nagpur is very unfortunate," added Bansal.