Hyderabad: Tickets for the One Day International (ODI) between India and New Zealand will all be sold online beginning January 12 at 5 pm to January 16.
The President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) on Wednesday stated that tickets scheduled for January 18 at Uppal Stadium will be sold online and not offline. “We have rectified the mistakes that happened last time,” he said referring to the stampede-like situation that occurred at the Gymkhana grounds.
The step has been taken as a measure to avoid a similar situation ahead of India vs New Zealand in the city.
A stampede-like situation occurred at the Gymkhana grounds in Secunderabad on September 22, 2022, ahead of the third one-day International match between India and Australia.
It was reported that around 20 cricket fans were injured and a couple fainted. Seven people were allegedly admitted to a hospital.
It has been alleged that tickets offline were sold in black which led to the stampede-like situation.
The HCA however cleaned their hands from any responsibility stating that it was the contract was entrusted to a third party and they were handling it.
The Hyderabad police had then booked cases against the HCA including Azharuddin. Three cases were reportedly booked by the Begumpet police based on complaints of negligence on part of HCA during the ticket sale leading to chaos.
A complaint was filed by a sub-inspector who was injured in the stampede as well as an injured lady. It has been alleged that the HCA sold tickets at an enlarged price in black.
”A high stake of T20 cricket match tickets were sold in black, alleged the lady. On Thursday when HCA’s appointed contractor Paytm opened a counter in Gymkhana grounds in Secunderabad, the crowd turned berserk when a man claimed that only 3000 tickets were left while the rest had been sold out. Following this, the crowd turned restive leading to a stampede-like situation,” police inspector P Srinivas Rao had said.
