<i>Too cold for comfort?</i>
IT'S REALLY COLD OUT IN THE MIDDLE: English umpire Ian Gould is putting on a jacket to shield him from the biting cold during the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka tri-series match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.Photo: STAR
The eagerly anticipated Idea Cup tri-nation series kicked off yesterday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium with hosts Bangladesh taking on Sri Lanka. But the amount of enthusiasm expected to be generated was not reflected in the crowd turnout. It was not a desired attendance, considering an international match.
There might be one good reason that it was a weekday and more importantly cricket fans might have opted to stay indoors to avoid the bite of the cold that has crippled the country.
However, the crowd that braved the chilly weather found reasons to cheer about in only a few phases of the Bangladesh innings.
It was surprising to see the stadium less-than-half full when the Tigers took to the field. It becomes more puzzling for the fact that Bangladesh is launching a New Year on a high after a very successful last season. Enthusiasm for the game is on such a high that the recently concluded Premier League and the T20 Leagues have drawn packed audiences at this very ground on a number of occasions.
Can the cold be the only reason behind this low turnout? Or the high price of gallery tickets would be attributed for this apparent apathy? It must be mentioned here that the ticket price has been a little too high for this tournament according to enthusiastic fans. This time the lowest ticket price has been set at Tk. 200 which may ward off many school or college going cricket fans from watching the matches inside the stadium. Bangladesh Cricket Board, however, thinks the price of tickets are reasonable, rather the cold is to be blamed for this low turnout.
"We have high expectations about the series. Two high profile teams, apart from Bangladesh, are featuring in the tournament. This is why the ticket price is a bit high. We believe, it is not the price rather the biting cold that is behind this poor turnout," said GS Hasan Tamim, chairman of the Ticket and Seating Committee of BCB.
"It's not so easy to watch matches for a longer period of time in this weather. People of our country are not used to sitting in the stands for long, especially with their families, even if it is an international match. But we hope, the scenario will change from tomorrow's match," Tamim hoped.
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