Bangalore:
It was literally a gloomy Sunday for over 1,000 cricket-crazy fans who missed watching Sachin Tendulkar's inning, despite having proper tickets and reaching the venue on time.
The reason: Cops didn't let them in citing unavailability of seats. Also, the marathon security check that lasted over two-and-a-hours after the start of play, prevented them from witnessing Sachin score his 47th one-day international century.
The irked fans demanded that the cops call Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) President Anil Kumble and Secretary Javagal Srinath to the gate. However, former cricketer and security in-charge Vijay Bharadwaj and former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad did come outside twice to pacify the fans, but it was already too late.
Some fans were let inside the stadium through other gates after half the Indian inning was over. Raghu G, a fan, said, "As the match was to start at 2.30 pm, we reached the venue at 1 pm. It's 4.30 pm now, and we are yet to be allowed in. They say that they don't have seats. If this is the case, then why did they issue tickets in the first place?"
Likewise Rajesh, another cricket fan, said, "We had come here to watch Sachin bat. But now we feel that we have wasted our Sunday and our money as well." He added that KSCA should be help responsible for the discomfort caused to them. When contacted, officials from KSCA refused to comment on the issue.