MUMBAI: With the Maharashtra government allowing only 25% crowd capacity for the second Test between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium between December 3-7, only 1200 tickets went up for online sale on Tuesday. The capacity of the stadium is 33,000, but only 8,260 tickets have been printed due to government restrictions on crowds in stadiums.
In a laudable move, the Mumbai Cricket Association has decided to not reduce the quota of tickets which is reserved for former Test and Ranji Trophy cricketers from the city to watch international matches. "They'll still get two tickets per ex-player, which they normally get. We don't want to reduce their share. We'll also provide all the (330-odd) club secretaries with their normal quota of four complimentary passes each. Our 19 associate members will also get two passes each as usual," a source in the MCA told TOI on Tuesday.
"With only one fourth of the iconic stadium allowed to be filled, the MCA's 17 Apex Council members have unanimously agreed to receive only 25% of their share of complimentary passes," the source revealed. It's learnt that each of the MCA's 330-odd member clubs will receive five tickets, as against the normal figure of 20, at subsidized rates.
The MCA is trying its best to ensure that batting legend Sunil Gavaskar is able to invite his guests to sit and watch the match in his special hospitality box, which was gifted to him by the association recently, as per state government norms, which stipulate a 50% capacity for indoors.
"Since Gavaskar's box is next to the commentators' box, which is in a bio-bubble, we've built a special barricade between the commentator's box and his special box. The MCA president (Vijay Patil) has instructed that the safe passage through the commentators' bio-bubble is maintained at all times. We are ensuring that Gavaskar is able to invite his guests as per govt norms, which stipulate 50% capacity for indoors," informed the source.
