ODI World Cup 2023, warm-up: With rains threatening wash-out, lukewarm support expected in India vs Netherlands
Fans haven't said much about the heavy rains that have been hitting the city for the past few days or the fact that more rain and strong winds are due in the state.
The capacity of the Greenfield International Stadium is more than 38,000. But when India plays the Netherlands on Tuesday in its final warm-up match before the ODI World Cup, there's a good chance that a few stands will be empty.
The fans' response has been lacklustre despite the city having been battered by intense rain for the past few days and the state being predicted to face more downpours and gusty winds.
We have heard from Kerala Cricket Association sources that so far, about 16,000 tickets have been sold online.
The tickets are priced at Rs 900 for the pavilions and Rs 300 for the terrace block, keeping in mind that these are warm-up games.
However, a look at the BookMyShow app, which is the tournament's official ticket partner, reveals that while some seats are sold out in Terraces G and D, plenty are still available in Terraces A, B, C, F, H, and J. Similarly, only three of the nine pavilion stands are fully booked.
"The ICC handles the ticketing procedure centrally. On the other hand, Trivandrum's ticket sales were made available online gradually. The initial round of tickets quickly sold out.
The response to the second round of tickets, which was released a few days ago, was, however, a little lower than expected due to the weather, as Kerala Cricket Association President Jayesh George stated to Sportstar on Saturday.
The Indian team is expected to arrive in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday afternoon via chartered flight, and George anticipates that once Rohit Sharma and his team touch down in the city, ticket sales will increase.
George stated, "Unfortunately, there is an orange alert in effect for Thiruvananthapuram and a few other districts through Monday. It makes sense that fans would prefer to wait and monitor the weather before purchasing tickets." Some supporters, nevertheless, claimed that there wasn't much interest in the warm-up match.
Cricket enthusiast Amaljith AR, who works for a food processing company, stated, "Even though I will be attending the match, quite a few friends are not attending the game because it's on a working day and they feel the tickets are priced high for a warm-up game against a relatively weaker side."
R Ashwin replaces injured Axar Patel in the 15-member squad.
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 28, 2023
We wish Axar a speedy recovery 👍 👍#TeamIndia's final squad for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here 🙌#CWC23 pic.twitter.com/aejYhJJQrT
Popular Kochi social media influencer Johns Benny, an ardent cricket fan, thinks that a number of fans have abstained to avoid making lengthy trips. It is quite a distance—roughly 10 to 12 hours—from Kochi to Trivandrum, he remarked. The visiting teams are also concerned about missing out on game time because additional rain is predicted.
Although there isn't an indoor practise space at Greenfield Stadium, the teams are contacting the KCA to inquire about the possibility of using any nearby private indoor facilities for training in case the rain persists over the next days.
A representative for one of the touring teams stated, "We have narrowed down on a few private training facilities, but we need to consider the logistical aspects before making a decision."