Karnataka - Bangalore   

Cricket fans have a field day in Bangalore

BANGALORE: While cricket fans inside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium were enjoying the fine batting display of Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly, there were many sullen faces outside the stadium.

The disappointment was because of the non-availability of tickets for the Test match. One board near the BRV Parade Ground ticket counter said bookings for Saturday and Sunday had been closed. People who wanted to buy tickets for the remaining days of the match, were sent back by officials at the ticket booths who said bookings had been closed.

Some die-hard fans managed to enter the stadium begging or purchasing tickets from those who came out during the pre-lunch session after being disappointed over India losing quick wickets early in the innings.

“I got my money’s worth watching the batting of Yuvraj and Ganguly. Yuvraj was in such fine touch that he scored boundaries at will,” said Prashant Singh, a businessman who came all the way from New Delhi to watch the match.

As the Yuvraj-Ganguly partnership prospered, the price of tickets being sold by people went up greatly. It seemed that every run scored by the duo pushed up the price by almost Rs. 10. The price of a Rs. 250 ticket for the second day of the Test match went up to Rs. 500 by early evening.

An enthusiastic fan from Surrey, England, Tom Westley was unhappy as he could not watch Sachin Tendulkar bat. The little master is not playing the match because of injury. “I wanted to see Tendulkar bat.

The last time India toured England I could not see his batting when he played at the Oval (London),” said Mr. Westley who works with an international bank in Hyderabad. In the absence of Tendulkar, Mr. Westley is looking forward to the performance of spinners Danesh Kaneria and Anil Kumble. Cricket fans enjoyed the day’s proceedings in their own way. Sudhir Paul from Kolkata, who claims to be a member of the “Dada army” had the national flag painted on his chest, back and hands. He cut his hair in the shape of India’s map.

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