IndvsAus T20I match: Black tickets priced at Rs 6,000 in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) came under the cloud of suspicion once again after the South Zone Task Force sleuths apprehended four persons for allegedly selling India vs Australia T20I match tickets in black at the Gymkhana Grounds on Sunday.

The touts were taken into custody when they were allegedly selling tickets at jaw-dropping prices to exploit the demand for the first international match happening at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal after a gap of three years. They were later handed over to the Begumpet police.

Interestingly, the arrests came in the wake of allegations that a major chunk of the tickets for the Sunday night match were blocked for unspecified reasons and only 10 percent of the rest were allotted for sale to the public. The entire ticket sale ended in a fiasco over the last one week or so when the fans were made to wait outside Gymkhana Grounds and at the Uppal stadium, the match venue.

While Paytm, the official ticket sales partner, had closed the online booking very early, the HCA authorities at the Gymkhana Grounds played hide and seek with the restless fans. With no one giving proper information, the fans vented their anger a few days ago leading to a lathicharge and stampede at these grounds. The match ticket sales was so badly managed that it prompted Telangana Minister for Sports Srinivas Goud to issue a stern warning that action would be taken against HCA if it was found guilty of diverting tickets to the black market.

It is believed that the four touts arrested on Sunday were just a tip of an iceberg and that a large number of tickets had already been sold in black market, long before the police crackdown. The touts, before they were arrested, were reportedly selling each ticket of Rs 1,500 at a whopping price of Rs 6,000 to encash the craze for the game among the fans.