Stranded Ponting & Co gets a taste of cricket ‘fever’

Still smarting from last Sunday’s floodlight fiasco at the Eden Gardens, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) had egg on its face this afternoon when world cricket’s stalwarts Ricky Ponting and John Buchanan were stranded at the ground after a gruelling practice session. They were unable to venture out to head for the cool confines of the team hotel —Thanks to massive, violent demonstrations outside Eden’s main gate.

Crowds agitating in front of the Eden Gardens over unavailability of tickets is not a new phenomenon for the city. But this is perhaps the first time in the history of cricket-crazy Kolkata that some top names in international cricket had to face the wrath of the public. Thankfully for the IPL organisers, today’s practice was optional, and barring Ponting and Buchanan, few other key players of the team attended the session at Eden.

The trouble began just as the players of the Kolkata Knight Riders were packing up in the afternoon. At the stroke of 12pm, just as they were set to board the team bus and head back to the team hotel, close to 400 cricket fans showed up at the BC Roy Club House, demonstrating violently against the CAB’s handling of the ticket sales. The furious crowds, mostly comprising young sports enthusiasts, had queued up at the ticket counters of the Eden Gardens since early morning, but were left a disappointed lot after the ticket counters closed down without warning, just 40 minutes of ticket sales, which began after 11am.

Livid with the abrupt announcement that all tickets of the price range of Rs 110 and Rs 220 for the April 29 Kolkata-Mumbai match have been fully sold out in just 40 minutes, the near 400-strong crowd literally went on a rampage outside the stadium’s main gate, from where the Knight Riders team members were scheduled to walk out to board their team bus.

With chaos ruling large and makeshift dividers installed by Kolkata Police in front of the stadium going for a toss, the policemen struggled to ward off the rampaging mob from the CAB’s main entrance. After 15 minutes of deafening demonstrations and drama, the cops finally managed to cool the crowds down, and a little after 12.15 pm, the players finally trooped out of the stadium and boarded the bus, amidst a massive security cover. After the 15-minute burst died down, demonstrations continued outside Eden Gardens in spurts till late in the afternoon, much to the police’s discomfort.

“I have been waiting outside the Eden since early morning, so that I don’t fall behind in the queue when the counters opened at 11am. But after less than an hour of opening, they announced that all low-priced tickets were sold out,” said Bablu Pal, a sports freak from Shyambazar, who was part of the demonstrating crowd.