Virat Kohli (L) and R Ashwin© AFP
Indian cricket team spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that star batter Virat Kohli was surprised by the low turn-out on Day 1 of the first Test encounter between India and Bangladesh in Chennai. While the crowd was quite less during the start of play, the spectators did make their way back into the stadium later in the day. In a recent interaction, Ashwin questioned the lack of crowd at the start of the match and wondered if the spectators struggled to get the tickets for the match.
"The ground was completely empty on the first day. I was wondering why the ground was so empty on Day 1. Virat Kept telling me that no one was coming to watch the Test match. But from that moment, there was a huge crowd. I wanted to ask you why so many people struggled to buy tickets?" Ashwin asked former cricketer and commentator Ashwath Bobo on his YouTube channel.
Ashwath responded that fans were not sure whether the match will continue till Day 5 and as a result, most of them opted for daily tickets instead of a season ticket. That led to a massive queue outside the stadium and majority of the fans ended up getting late for the game.
"Initially, when ticket sales used to happen, they used to call it a season ticket or a day ticket. A season ticket is when you get it punched on Day 1 and you can come back for 5 days with same ticket. Many people were afraid that the match would not go on till the 4th or 5th day. So everyone had an ambiguity to buy the season ticket. So when they come to buy the day ticket, the crowd was huge. The crowd was from the Pavillion to the Pattabiram Gate," Ashwath said.
"So it was just one counter?" Ashwin asked.
"Yes there was just one counter. There were a lot of problems. When I came, there was a huge crowd in that line. But when I came, as you said, the crowd was scattered on Day 1. So, many people struggled to buy the day ticket. But as you said, yesterday was Saturday and crowd was huge. On Sunday, the crowd was there till the end of the presentation," Ashwath replied.
Ashwin scored a ton and achieved a six-wicket haul to guide India to a 280-run victory.