Few takers for tickets in Mohali

Wednesday April 16, 02:40 AM

It's only three days to go for the much-hyped Indian Premier League (IPL) to begin, but Chandigarh is yet to wake up to the excitement. Kings XI Punjab take on Chennai Super Kings in a home match at the PCA Stadium at Mohali on April 19 but the organisers have not been able to sell too many tickets despite efforts from co-owner Preity Zinta.

A visit to the stadium shows you two sides of a coin. The staff is working on ground, hoardings are being painted, and a fresh coat of yellow paint is being applied to the stands - a typical sight before any big international match. But outside, the usual frenzy of ticket-seekers and fans is missing.

It was only because Zinta and Brett Lee themselves managed the tickets line on Saturday that about 1,500 seats were sold in the 37,000-capacity stadium. But everything has gone cold after that. The organisers haven't given up hope, though. The tickets have been priced according to different categories and, since they start at Rs 50, they are confident the scenario will change over the next three days.

"Yes there are tickets left unsold for the first match but the momentum is picking up," said Neil Maxwell, the team's CEO. "We're anticipating an exhilarating series of matches. When the two teams reach here, the cricket fever will grip the region."

Other than Lee, James Hopes, VRV Singh, Kyle Mills, Luke Pomersvack, Simon Katich, Uday Kaul, Yash Gandhi, Tanmay Srivastava, Karan Goel, Ajitesh Agral, Sunny Sohal, Pankaj Dharmani, Sahil Kukreja and Wilken Mota are participating in a conditioning camp under coach Tom Moody. Skipper Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla will join on Wednesday, while Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Mahela Jayawardene will arrive later.

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Few takers for tickets in Mohali