Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

HCA still unable to come out of ticket muddle

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) blundering over ticket sales does not seem to end. Even while conceding that not every cricket fan cannot get into the stadium to see a match live, it's galling that the Association had a sizeable number of “unsold” tickets during the India-Australia thriller of a one-dayer last year in the Rajiv stadium, Uppal.

Blocked

HCA sources revealed that there were as many as 3,774 tickets worth lakhs of rupees which were held back from sale or “blocked” for “higher profits” but for some inexplicable reason, they were not sold on the given day.

Yes, it was the same match where maestro Sachin Tendulkar scored that magnificent 175 and almost single handed pulled off a dramatic win. Any cricket lover would have bought the tickets and would have loved to be in the stadium soaking the atmosphere live as Sachin unleashed the fireworks if not HCA's folly.

Lessons never seem to be learnt as even in 2007 for a one-dayer, Rs. 33 lakh worth of tickets were claimed by a select few prominent personalities of the Association. But, shockingly five months later, the entire amount was waived off on the grounds that they were ‘distributed' to VVIPs including Ministers, MLAs and top officials!

Then, there is this mystery of who took the decision to buy Rs. 23 lakh worth of tickets for the 2007 World Cup in West Indies from the BCCI and which went waste later on. There is a provision for any affiliated unit of BCCI to purchase a certain quota of tickets for any ICC event.

This would not have come to light had not the BCCI deducted the said amount from its annual grant and was also reflected in the statement of HCA accounts. The problem in this case was with India crashing out in the league phase itself, there were no takers for the tickets!

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