India vs Windies: Poor response to the first Test leaves SCA disappointed

The first Test between India and Windies which started on Thursday is only the second one Rajkot is hosting and the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) is doling out free tickets as only 10 per cent of tickets for the game were sold. This is the scenario in the 25,000-seat strong stadium in Rajkot while other venues are wrangling for free passes for the five-game ODI series that will follow the Tests. It is certainly not a good publicity for the longer format of the game.

India, the top-ranked Test team in the world, are taking on a low-placed Windies in the two-Test series and there is little enthusiasm over the match. The Caribbeans haven’t won a Test series against India since 2002 and the last time they won a Test in India was in 1994 and a series in India was in 1983-84 when their golden age was on.

“The situation sadly is opposite here (compared to other state units hosting ODIs). Rajkot is not a big city like Delhi and Mumbai and we were expecting a decent turnout in a smaller city like Rajkot. Right now, it doesn’t seem to be the case as just over 2000 tickets have been sold. But we don’t know why people are not showing interest. Hopefully, the sales pick up over the weekend,” Times Now cited reports as quoting former BCCI official and veteran cricket administrator Niranjan Shah.

Saurashtra authorities took efforts to fill up venue but had little success

Shah, who held a top position in the SCA for a long time, oversaw preparation for the first Test. The SCA even took to distributing tickets to players, men and women in all districts to encourage attendance at the ground. He expressed disappointment that despite taking all the efforts, the response was poor.

“According to BCCI diktat, 10 per cent of match tickets are reserved for school kids. So they will be attending too. Having said that, it is unfortunate that people are not showing interest.”

The interest is expected to go up during the ODI series scheduled between October 21 and November 1 as the prospects of an even rivalry are higher in the limited-overs version. Meanwhile, the second ODI was shifted from Indore to Vishakhapatnam following a dispute between the state body and the Indian cricket board over the distribution of complimentary passes.

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