9 hours ago
3
ARTICLE AD BOX
The match was, quite unusually, abandoned due to excessive fog but not before multiple inspections were conducted from 7pm to 9.30pm. (PTI Photo)
The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) has announced on Thursday that it will issue a full refund of tickets to spectators who were at the Ekana Stadium for the ill-fated fourth T20I between India and South Africa. The match was, quite unusually, abandoned due to excessive fog but not before multiple inspections were conducted from 7pm to 9.30pm.
“Spectators who booked tickets online will receive a refund of the ticket amount through their original mode of payment,” Prem Manohar Gupta, secretary of UPCA, said in a release.
“Refund-related notifications will be sent to the registered email addresses. Ticket holders are advised to regularly monitor their emails for further updates.” The UPCA has further said that those who purchased tickets offline can collect their refunds from the box office at Gate No. 2 of the stadium on December 20, 21 and 22, between 11:00 am and 6:00 pm.
“Offline ticket holders must be present in person and are required to: Carry your original physical tickets along with a copy of Government ID for verification,” it said in its statement.
“Customers will submit all the above with their bank details. Fill out the refund form provided at the counter with relevant and accurate details. Submit the original tickets along with the completed form for verification.
“Upon successful verification, refunds will be processed directly to the respective bank accounts as per the details provided in the refund form Refunds will be initiated only after due verification of the submitted documents and information.”
The delays started with the toss, originally scheduled to be held at 6.30pm, was pushed back. Lucknow’s Air Quality Index (AQI) at 4 pm on Wednesday was 171, in the ‘moderate’ category as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily bulletin on air pollution. This reading was the average of the past 24 hours. Particulate matter 2.5, which are fine particles, and Particulate Matter 10 were the primary pollutants.
Story continues below this ad
At 7 pm, prior to the toss, the air quality index at the Gomti Nagar air pollution monitoring station close to the stadium was 139, also in the moderate category. Private air-quality monitoring websites measured the AQI at 350 in Lucknow at 9pm, half an hour before the match was called off. The expectant crowd had stayed on, like they invariably do at any time of the day in this country – for over five hours after the gates were flung open — only to be informed of what seemed like a foregone conclusion ever since the scheduled 6:30 pm toss was delayed due to poor visibility.
Former India batter Robin Uthappa, on commentary duty, called the decision to delay the first coin flip “counter-intuitive”, for conditions were bound to get worse in sub-15 degree Celsius temperatures. But it took the match officials six inspections to finally call off the game.
English (US) ·