Fans protest unfair ticket sales of 5th ODI

An angry state sports minister shot off a letter to BCCI President alleging black marketing of tickets for the India-Australia One-dayer as irate fans staged protest outside the Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Fans who could not buy tickets for the fifth encounter in the seven-match series staged a protest before the start of the match on Thursday.

Andhra Pradesh's sports minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy pointed fingers at the working of the Hyderabad Cricket Association which he said was not transparent as far as sale of match-tickets was concerned.

"This (black-marketing of tickets) is causing a grave concern and disappointment among cricket lovers in the state and embarrassment to the government," Reddy's missive read.

"There are a lot of complaints and also news reports in the media regarding the sale of tickets in the black market. The HCA has not even been following protocol in relation to the government functionaries despite securing huge concessions from the state government," the minister said.

Reddy said the government had given 22 acres of prime land to the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) for the construction of the stadium at Uppal.

He said he would talk personally to BCCI chief Shashank Manohar on the issue.

The sports minister alleged that only about 28,000 ticketswere sold through bank counters, though the stadium has a seating capacity of 40,000.

After failing to talk to the HCA officials Reddy spoke to Hyberabad Commissioner of Police Prabhakar Reddy on the issue.

The previous collector of Ranga Reddy district Praveen Prakash had also written a letter to BCCI authorities in 2007 pointing to the "large-scale irregularities" in sale of tickets for the India-Australia ODI held that year.