By IANS
Bangalore : Cricket crazy fans in the IT hub are willing to pay as much as four times more for a Rs. 1,000 ticket to watch the first India-Australia one dayer here on Sep 29.
But tickets are not available even at this price, as the demand has soared up to see young Mahendra Singh Dhoni lead his men for the first time in Bangalore.
India’s thrilling victory in the Twenty20 inaugural World Cup has taken the craze to a feverish pitch.
Touts have collected a huge sum of money by selling tickets in the black market, eyewitnesses and ticket seekers said. The asking price is five times the original price.
The 12,000 odd tickets for the general public were sold out in about three hours of the opening of the counters Monday morning.
Hundreds of cricket fans had queued up for 15 hours before the sale started.
A Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) official requesting anonymity said that the association was in no position to check the illegal sale of tickets.
“We cannot determine whether all those who queue up are genuine ticket seekers who want to watch the match or blackmarketeers.”
“We sold tickets on first come first served basis. It is for the police to prevent any illegal activity like selling tickets in black,” he said.
Senior police officials supervising the security arrangements at the venue said they have not received any complaint of illegal sale of tickets.