MCA cuts costs in anticipation for low turnout for Mumbai Test

Although Team India continues to tighten the screws on an under par English side to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 5-match series with 2 tests to go, it seems that the way the home team has played hasn’t really impressed the fans. The turnout at Mohali, one of the cricket crazy venues in India was disappointing, to say the least. Wary of the prospect of losses for the Mumbai Test, the MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) has decided to cut its costs in order to minimize the impact.

“This time, we’ve got a limited budget. Anyways, we don’t earn much out of a Test. Hence, we had to consider cost-cutting measures. We normally spend Rs 1.5 crore on catering, but this time we’ve decided to spend around Rs 1 crore on it instead,” PV Shetty, the MCA joint secretary said.

“Around 1,000 tickets will be distributed to the cricket playing schools of the city (whose team has made it to the quarterfinals of the Harris or Giles Shield), and NGOs for the specially-abled children.”

The board is mindful of the fact that the turnouts of Tests are genuinely low, especially compared to limited over formats. Nevertheless, the joint attendance of 5000 people at Mohali for the first 3 days is sure to have played a part in this decision by the MCA. This also comes on the back of their budget being clipped (Rs 58.66 lakh) by the Supreme Court.

Even Chennai, scheduled to host the 5th and final Test starting 16th December will now keep a close tab with how the Test match is greeted in Mumbai. However, the fact that this is the first Test to be played at the Wankhede since the iconic farewell Test of Sachin Tendulkar in November 2013 may aid in increasing ticket sales. For now, the sales have been promising, with over 5000 tickets sold online and a further 1000 distributed to members of the association.

The 4th Test starts on Thursday, 8th December and provides India the chance to win the series against England, their first series win after 3 consecutive losses. This may be an incentive enough for the fans to turn up in support for the home team.