Cricket fans throng Gymkhana Ground for T20 tickets, 20 hurt in stampede-like situation

Hyderabad: Around 20 cricket fans were injured, and a couple of them fainted, when a stampede-like situation broke out at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad where they had gathered to buy tickets for the India-Australia match.

The Hyderabad police resorted to lathi charge to bring the crowd under control while the traffic was thrown out of gear on the afternoon of 22 September. The police have ordered a probe into the incident. On 25 September, Hyderabad is set to host the India-Australia match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) led by former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin has appointed Paytm as its contractor to sell tickets online and offline.

Online sale of tickets began on 15 September, however, it was shut down within 10 minutes after it went live. Following this, HCA announced that Paytm had set up a counter at Gymkhana Grounds in Secunderabad and would sell tickets there.

What followed this announcement was total chaos. Cricket fans began gathering at the Gymkhana stadium in the wee hours of Thursday. Due to a lack of queue discipline and no coordination with the local police, the crowd went berserk.

Speaking to NewsMeter, K. Sunil Babu, the secretary of the Cricket Association of Telangana, said HCA outsourced the job to sell tickets to Paytm. "Since then, complaints have been pouring in regarding the unavailability of tickets online and offline. On 15 September, the contractor (Paytm) sold tickets for 10 minutes and then shut down. On Thursday, the manner in which the sale was conducted was unplanned," he said.

The total capacity of the Uppal Stadium is 34,000 seats of which HCA has a seat share of 4,600. There are around 40 VIP houses that can accommodate 8-10 people. The remaining 29,600 is sold online and offline. The highest cost of a ticket is around Rs. 10,000 and the cheapest Rs. 850. Mr. Sunil Babu said 26,000 tickets were sold. "There is pressure from the government and police for tickets. As a city, we have failed to organise a cricket match," he added.

Seven injured in the lathi charge, including two police personnel, have been admitted to Yashoda Hospital. The doctors treated them in the outpatient department as they had minor injuries and bruises following the stampede-like situation. They have been kept under observation, a hospital authority told NewsMeter. Those admitted to Yashoda are the two police personnel Srikanth and J. Srinath Yadav, and others are Syed Alia (19), Sujatha (26), Sai Kishore (25), Ranjitha (48), and Aditya Nag (23).

North additional CP Chauhan told the media that the HCA hadn't provided proper facilities and sufficient counters. He said the organisers did not coordinate with the police. "We will launch an inquiry into the situation," he said.