As the much awaited VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) comes to Visakhapatnam after a wait of three years, cricket lovers and IPL fans are leaving no stone unturned to watch the nail-biting finishes.
As anticipated, almost 90% of tickets right from ₹500 basic price tickets to highest ₹7,500 tickets, for both the eliminator and the qualifier, which are scheduled on May 8, 10 respectively, have been sold out.
Since the moment Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) started the sale of tickets online from May 3, 2019, there was a huge demand for the tickets and the site was too busy. The ₹500 tickets have been finished within one or two hours time, while the tickets priced at ₹1,250, ₹1,500 and others were seen in very good demand. By Saturday, except a few tickets in ₹1,750, ₹ 3,500 and ₹7,500 categories, all others have been sold out.
Youngsters, especially college-going students, bought basic price tickets. “We saw a report in newspaper and forwarded it to other friends. We were able to get three ₹500 and two ₹1,500 tickets. We friends are going for ₹500 ticket category, where we can have much fun shouting loud for our stars, while my parents are going to ₹1,500 category. That’s how we planned,” said M. Hyndhavi, an engineering student from Maddilapalem area of the city.
Not everyone is lucky enough, as many have missed out without information. “I came to know about the sale at around 1 p.m. on Friday, when I was actually in a movie theatre. There seems to be adequate number of tickets available. Just after an hour, the ₹500 tickets have been sold out. I had to book a ₹1,500 ticket, which were also being booked fast,” said K. Shankar, a private employee and resident of Murali Nagar, Visakhapatnam.
Once the league stage gets done by Sunday, the top four IPL teams gets finalised. The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) officials are expecting two teams to reach Visakhapatnam by Monday evening or Tuesday morning, to take part in the eliminator, which is scheduled on April 8. The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) has already decorated the ACA-VDCA YSR Stadium.