More than three months after Hyderabad witnessed a stampede-like situation over cricket match ticket sales in which many people were injured, the city is set to witness another international match, this time a One Day International between India and New Zealand on January 18. Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) officials said that this time, the tickets will only be sold online on Paytm. “Last time there was some chaos due to the offline sale of tickets, and there was a stampede. We got clear instructions from the government, police, and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that no offline tickets will be sold. Everything will be online,” an HCA official said.
The match will be held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal. HCA president and former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, along with other officials, addressed the media on Wednesday, January 11, and shared details of the arrangements made for the match. Online ticket sales will begin on January 13 and continue till January 16. The physical copies of the tickets can then be redeemed in person at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium or the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Gachibowli, between 10 am and 3 pm from January 15 to 18.
Last year in September, when the stampede-like situation arose ahead of an India-Australia T20 match at the Gymkhana grounds in Hyderabad, it was alleged that tickets had been sold in black, leading to a shortage of tickets at the HCA ticket counters. This time, HCA officials said that there are a total of 29,417 saleable tickets for the match, and each individual is allowed to buy a maximum of four tickets.
Ticket sales will begin at 5 pm on January 13, and 16,000 tickets will be sold on the first day, an HCA official said. On January 14 and 15, 7,000 tickets will be sold each day. The remaining tickets will be sold on January 16. The ticket prices range from Rs 850 to Rs 20,650.
On September 15, 2022, several people suffered minor injuries in a stampede-like situation at the Gymkhana grounds, where hundreds of people had gathered to buy tickets for an India-Australia T20 match scheduled for September 25 at the Uppal stadium. Police resorted to lathi charges to manage the crowd, and a stampede-like situation ensued. The police had booked the management of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) over the incident.