DDCA staff protest at Kotla demanding passes for Ind-Eng ODI

The hankering for tickets ahead of the second India-England ODI on Sunday created quite a scene at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium where the Delhi and District Cricket Association's own staff protested demanding passes for the match on Monday.

The DDCA staff members are used to getting five passes each but for the last couple of years, they are not given a single ticket.

The agitated 130 workers threatened to stop all the work at the stadium with not even 24 hours to go for the match, prompting the officials to call them for a negotiation.

After the meeting, the workers were assured of being given the unsold tickets or a compensation of Rs 1500 each for this match. They were also assured of tickets of the upcoming India-West Indies Test match to be held here from November 6 to 10.

"There is no issue now. We have given them assurances of compensating with Rs 1500 if we are unable to give them tickets for tomorrow's match. We will also be giving them tickets for the Test match between India and West Indies," Rajendra Manchanda, joint secretary DCCA, said.

But the vice-president of the DDCA union, Sunil Sharma said, "we have not yet agreed to the proposal but would not stop the work."

"We will not stop working. We will see to it that the match tomorrow goes on smoothly but whether we would work with black armbands in protest, we will take a call later," said Sharma.

"We will also continue to hold talks and ask them agree to our demands," he added.