Empty stands welcome MS Dhoni at Vizag

Rising Pune Supergiants lost yet another close game and registered their 7th defeat in the 9th edition of the IPL after they were beaten narrowly by Sunrisers Hyderabad yesterday at the YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. There was one interesting fact however which surprised many – the empty stands. It was surprising to see the stadium partially empty despite MS Dhoni’s presence. Generally, he has received tremendous support whenever he has played here.

The game was not a dull affair and involved a good contest between the bat and ball. Chasing 138 to win, RPS side went to stretch the chase till the last over but eventually lost the game by four runs.

“Being a week day, the traffic in this stretch (the stadium is located on the National Highway 5) is at its peak. Access to the stadium from the city is also difficult in such heavy traffic. Perhaps that is the reason for this poor turn-out,” an Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) official was quoted as saying according to a report in ‘dna’.

Even though tickets have been priced in the range of Rs 400 to Rs 2,000, there were not many takers to watch MS Dhoni’s team in action.

Another ACA official said the fans had the option of choosing between six IPL matches here at a stretch.

“They have the choice of picking which Dhoni match they want to watch. Moreover, the purchasing power among the public in Vizag for an IPL game is not as high as in, say, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata or Bengaluru. Even among those present, two sections of the lower tier filled were all complimentary pass holders,” the senior official added.

The official also pointed out that transportation to and from the stadium has not been taken care of by the IPL franchises. “The stadium for the international matches is packed. We (ACA) organise special buses for matches in association with the concerned authorities. The IPL franchises have not looked into this aspect,” he said.

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