A day after all the tickets for the IPL finals in Bengaluru had been sold out, a gathering of people continues to hang around the Chinnaswamy Stadium where the match is to be held on Sunday.
On Wednesday evening, authorities at the stadium said all tickets for the match had been sold, but on Thursday people continued visit the stadium hoping that somehow more tickets would be sold.
Opposite the stadium near a fruit shop, or behind the bio-toilets and inside the park, they were everywhere. A couple of people approached the fruit vendor and asked the man if there was any chance more tickets would be sold.
Once your eyes adjusted to the flurry of activity, you could spot a couple of stragglers walking off with an old man dressed black. Once or twice, you could see them exchanging something behind a tree or the bio toilets. He was a middleman who would get you tickets in black, even as police personnel patrolled the areas around the stadium.
We approached him and he gestured towards the park near the stadium. Once there, he said he would sell us tickets cost Rs 4,000 for tickets for gallery seating, which cost Rs 750. With a little bit of haggling he was ready to come down to Rs 3,500. He had a slip of paper on which he jotted down details. He said that if the cash was arranged he would ring up the seller, who would deliver the tickets.
We agreed, and said we would go get the money and get in touch with him again.
However, before we stepped out of the park, another man flashed a ticket in his hand. The man, who called himself Akshay, maintained that gallery tickets for Rs 4,000 were selling out fast, but added that he would get more tickets.
