Mischief and Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) go hand in hand. So, there was little surprise that some DDCA officials refused to learn from their previous futile attempts to sabotage international matches played at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Despite having their unsportsman-like behaviour nipped in the bud, they made fresh moves to sabotage the second India-New Zealand One-day International on Thursday. But again all their schemes fell flat as a team headed by ex-justice Mukul Mudgal and a section of the DDCA administrators joined hands to stage a successful match. They also ensured a handsome profit for the beleaguered association, which could be in the region of Rs 5.25 crore.
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Mudgal, a former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was appointed by the Delhi High Court after constantly fighting DDCA officials failed to convince the court that they were worthy of organising the match in the manner it desired.
Attempts to sabotage the match by a group of the disgruntled DDCA administrators opposing Mudgal's presence included cutting of electricity supply, including to the room where TV broadcaster's expensive equipment were kept, disconnecting water supply to toilets etc, and cutting of internet cables that hampered work of various departments.
These acts actually started a few days before the ODI and continued during the match on Thursday. This caused a lot of agony to a set of determined DDCA officials who were working along with young lawyers who constituted Mudgal's team. But they ensured that all the obstacles were removed in time and the match was conducted smoothly.
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Profit-making match:
DDCA has a history of going in the red after hosting international matches. Even the ICC events, like the 2011 World Cup matches staged at the Feroz Shah Kotla, had inexplicably failed to show profit in DDCA's balance sheets, despite the ICC having given lots of money to organise those matches.
But Thursday's India-New Zealand ODI is set to show a profit of well over Rs 5 crore. The Rs 1.5 crore that BCCI routinely gives to the match-staging centres was used to organise the ODI, though the total expenditure could eventually touch Rs 2 crore.
The profit can be calculated mainly under two heads: sales of tickets and in-stadia rights. Around 28,000 tickets were sold for around Rs 3.10 crore and Rs 2.17 crore were earned through a tender for in-stadia rights (advertisements displayed inside the stadium). These two figures give a total of Rs 5.27 crore. Even if this figure, in the final analysis, changes a bit, it would give a profit of over Rs 5 crore, assures a DDCA member who was involved in organising the match.
"We priced the tickets in a manner that fans were encouraged to purchase them and come to the stadium to watch the action. You can say the pricing was competitive. For instance, we reduced the price of the expensive Corporate Box tickets. Earlier, one Corporate Box seat (including IPL) used to be sold for up to Rs 16,000 (including liquor), but the price for this match was reduced to Rs 8,000, though without liquor," an official told Outlook.
"As a result, around 28,000 spectators watched the match. And it must also be said they all were well behaved, and enjoyed the match thoroughly. Another good thing is that all the seats at the Kotla are now numbered, which helps in managing spectators," said another official on his return after taking a round of the galleries.
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Race to be seen:
Some of the DDCA administrators could go to any length to be seen on TV and in newspapers. And when an international match takes place at the Kotla the race for a place at the podium during the post-match prize distribution ceremony heats up considerably. So, living up to the tradition, some officials reportedly went out of their way on Thursday to secure a place on the podium.
But since DDCA officials desirous of being seen on the podium had to take express permission of Mukul Mudgal, they spent almost the whole of Thursday trying various tricks to convince him to give them the nod. One such desperate official reportedly wrote a number of emails to various influential people to get the license to be seen by the TV cameras at the post-match ceremony.
