More tickets likely to go on sale for second and third ODI

Fans looking for tickets for the first ODI between Bangladesh and Afghanistan were surprised to find that the ticket booths at Sagorika road had not opened even at 11 am today.  On Sunday, a BCB media release had said that booths were to open from 9 am. Some of the fans waiting for tickets had been there from 5am.

However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director and media committee chairman Tanvir Ahmed Tito said that the tickets were due to be sold from afternoon onwards.

"There were no problems with ticket sales. People just arrived early. Tickets were to be sold from the afternoon but somehow they were informed that tickets will be available from the morning," Tanvir told The Daily Star today.

When the matter of the timing in the media release was brought up, he informed: "No, actually I didn't say something like that in the media release. Tickets were to be released in the afternoon and that's how it went.

For the first ODI tomorrow, around four thousand tickets are on sale.

"For tomorrow there will be three to four thousand tickets as per our earlier plan. Since the government circular was given a day before yesterday (Sunday) in the afternoon, we couldn't print new tickets as everything was closed yesterday due to 21st February," the media committee chairman informed further.

The next two ODIs will see more tickets available.

"For the next two matches, the number of tickets will increase. The number will depend on printing and how many we can get ready. We're hoping that the match (second ODI) after tomorrow will see double the number of tickets made available. It will be eight or nine thousand.

"The last match, we will try to make more tickets available as we are planning to increase it gradually. We have not planned for a full house since the issue of social distancing is still there. Mask and social distancing measures still remain so we will take a decision tomorrow regarding whether we can arrange for a full house and confirm tomorrow."

With the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium having a capacity of around eighteen thousand, the BCB are still hoping for about 50 per cent crowds.

"We will look to print as many as possible in the time available. It takes some time to prepare but this time there was a time constraint," Tanvir concluded.